Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signaled over the weekend that his government is open to negotiating a deal that would trade access to Ukraine’s rare earth elements in exchange for continued U.S. military support. His comments come as former President Donald Trump recently suggested that American aid to Ukraine should come with tangible economic benefits.
“If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it,” Zelensky told Reuters, emphasizing that Ukraine isn’t looking to simply hand over its resources—it wants a real strategic partnership. Acknowledging the significant support the U.S. has provided, he made it clear that American interests should be recognized in return. “The Americans helped the most, and therefore the Americans should earn the most,” he said.
According to The Hill, Zelensky’s remarks followed Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should receive rare earth elements from Ukraine as part of any future assistance package. These elements, though not commonly found in high concentrations, are crucial for industries like energy, electronics and defense:
Zelensky also said that Ukraine and the U.S. are discussing using Ukraine’s underground storage for U.S.-produced gas.
Zelensky shared a map of Ukraine’s minerals with Reuters, and according to the news outlet, about half of a strip of land containing rare earths appeared to be on Russia’s side of the current battle lines.
The Ukrainian president also said he hopes to meet with Trump before the U.S. sits down with Russian President Vladimir Putin because “otherwise it will look like a dialogue about Ukraine without Ukraine.”
The vast majority of Ukraine’s rare earth mineral resources are located in the Donbas region. Estimates suggest that over 70% of these valuable minerals are found in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Dnipropetrovsk areas. However, due to ongoing conflicts, Ukraine has lost control over many of these deposits, particularly in Donetsk and Luhansk. This loss complicates efforts to leverage these resources for strategic alliances or economic development.
Ukraine’s Victory Plan already includes leveraging its mineral wealth—such as uranium, titanium, lithium and graphite—to strengthen strategic alliances. However, it remains unclear whether these resources would be part of any potential agreement with Washington, as they are not classified as rare earth minerals.
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No, I don’t think so. We would be foolish to keep financing
Zelensky .
Putin must be stopped. Period. Ukraine is the present day 1939 Czechoslovakia.
The so called “rare earths” are not really rare! The USA has more rare earths in the Western U.S. than most of the World. The oldest rare earth mine, over 100 years old, is the Mountain Pass Mine in Eastern California, just off of I-15!
HE IS NOT “FORMER” PRESIDENT!
“RARE EARTHS”
I am not sure about Zelensky’s economic figures, bu I have in mind that about 70% of these “PRECIOUS MINERALS” lie in DonBass.
Don’t forget: DonBas and Krym went INDEPENDENT!
AND THE DONBASS PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN RUSSIAN
– even if the German Army did, in 1918, “DONATE THEM” (with their land) LIKE SLAVES TO UKRAINE! They never said “YES”!
AND WHEN OBAMA’S POST MAIDAN REGIME BANNED THEIR LANGUAGE, THEY SECEDED!
BEFORE HIS, UKRAINIAN NATIONALISTS KILLED DOZENS OF DONBASS PEOPLE – THE FIRST STEP TO ETHNIC CLEANSING
-as in other “German gifts” like Polish Galicia and Jewish Volhynia!
SO, THESE PEOPLE WANT THEIR LANGUAGE, CULTURE, RELIGION – ALL FORBIDDEN NOW!
So, Pres. Trump: See that they get all that back – and decide where they want to be –
AND THEN, TALK TO THEM ABOUT LITHIUM AND ALL THAT! And Zelensky a bit, too.
We need your Ores Ukraine OK
BEFORE anyone “negotiates” with Ukraine, the country needs to hold a LEGITIMATE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
Zelensky is NOT THE ELECTED PRESIDENT. He CANCELLED the elections. He’s a POSER. I don’t understand why any country, including USA,, even acknowledges that Zelensky has any real powers.
NOTHING TO UKRAINE without a valid election, This nonsense of dealing with UNELECTED PUPPETS needs to stop. Trump should throw him to the curb until Zelensky is duly and fairly elected.
Otherwise, HEY, I DECLARE MYSELF PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE. — see how that works?