Ukraine and the Trump Administration Reach Agreement on Rare Earth Mineral Deal
Ukraine has reportedly reached an agreement with the Trump administration regarding a controversial deal involving rare earth minerals. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to meet with President Donald Trump on Friday to finalize the terms. Officials in Kyiv believe this mineral deal could serve as a stepping stone toward improved relations with the United States, especially following a week marked by a series of public insults exchanged between the two leaders.
The terms of this latest agreement are said to be more favorable than those initially proposed in a draft that had alarmed both Ukrainian and European officials. President Trump confirmed on Tuesday that Zelensky would be visiting on Friday and expressed optimism about signing the minerals deal. “We have pretty much negotiated our deal on rare earths,” Trump stated, while multiple sources indicated that a preliminary framework for the agreement had already been established.
Trump noted that Ukraine had gained “the right to fight on” in exchange for signing the agreement. He praised the bravery of the Ukrainian people, while also emphasizing the crucial role of U.S. support in the ongoing conflict, stating, “Without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been over in a very short period of time.”
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, who has been at the forefront of the negotiations, remarked that the agreement constituted “only part of the picture.” In an interview with the Financial Times, she added, “We have heard multiple times from the U.S. administration that it’s part of a bigger picture.” The final version of the deal, as reported by the newspaper, would involve the two nations collaborating to develop Ukraine’s mineral resources, with profits funneled into a shared fund.
Initially, Trump had demanded $500 billion worth of mineral resources as compensation for previous U.S. aid to Ukraine, without offering any future security guarantees in return. The revised agreement, however, is still not believed to include explicit American security guarantees and lacks clarity regarding the size of America’s stake in the fund and the specifics of “joint ownership” arrangements.
After Zelensky rejected the initial terms last week, Trump criticized the Ukrainian leader, labeling him a “dictator without elections,” while also exaggerating the amount of aid the U.S. had provided to Ukraine since the onset of the conflict with Russia. The White House subsequently advised Zelensky to temper his own remarks, which had included a suggestion that Trump operated within a Russian “disinformation space.”
Ukraine is rich in essential minerals and elements, including lithium and titanium, which are critical for the manufacturing of various modern technologies. Additionally, the country possesses substantial reserves of coal, oil, gas, and uranium. Zelensky had previously proposed granting the U.S. access to Ukraine’s natural resources as part of a “victory plan” he presented to allies last year.
On Friday, he commented to Reuters, “The Americans helped the most, and therefore the Americans should earn the most.” Ukrainian officials have indicated that the deal has received approval from the justice, economy, and foreign ministers.
