United States President Donald Trump said he wants Ukraine to support the U.S. with rare earth minerals as compensation for financially supporting the country’s war efforts against Russia.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said Ukraine was willing, adding that he wants “equalisation” from Ukraine for Washington’s “close to US$300 billion” in support.
"We're telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earths," Trump said.
"We're looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earths and other things."
It is unclear whether Trump was causing the term “rare earths” to refer to all types of critical minerals or just to rare earths.
Rare earths are a group of 17 metals to make magnets that turn power into motion for electric vehicles, phones and other electronics and have no known substitutes.
The U.S. Geological Society considers 50 minerals critical to the country’s economy and national defence, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium.
Ukraine contains large deposits of uranium, lithium and titanium but none are considered to be among the world’s five biggest by volume.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has been occurring for nearly three years and under the Biden administration, the U.S. was one of the biggest supporters in Kyiv’s war effort. This includes Biden approving over US$1 billion in weapons for Ukraine before leaving office.
Since entering the White House, the Trump administration has been debating its policy towards Kyiv, causing a brief pause on the shipments of U.S. weapons to Ukraine.
Trump has recently been in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about stopping the war, but in an interview with Associated Press on Saturday, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said any talks without him were unacceptable.
"They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us — it is dangerous for everyone," Zelenskyy said.
