Ukraine's rare earth metals, which Trump demanded in exchange for aid: what is known about them
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine has the largest reserves of lithium and titanium in Europe, as well as other valuable deposits. Russia has already occupied 33% of rare earth mineral deposits, and the United States is interested in gaining access to Ukrainian resources.
AFP reports that US President Donald Trump stated he wants to exchange rare earth metals from Ukraine for American aid. Earlier, First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko stated that Ukraine has the largest reserves of lithium and titanium in Europe. UNN has gathered information on what is known about rare earth metals.
Details
In 2017, Mining World Ukraine reported that Ukraine has significant reserves of non-ferrous and rare earth metals, including unique deposits of beryllium, zirconium, tantalum, and a complex of phosphorus ores of rare earth and rare metals. Confirmed lithium reserves in Ukraine are the largest in Europe. It was noted that the country also has a real opportunity to enter the world market with pure and ultra-pure metals such as gallium, indium, thallium, lead, and tin.
According to data from the Canadian geopolitical risk assessment firm SecDev, published in 2022, Ukrainian energy deposits, metals, and minerals worth at least $12.4 trillion are under Russian control. In addition to 63% of the country's coal deposits, Moscow has confiscated 11% of oil fields, 20% of natural gas fields, 42% of metals, and 33% of rare earth and other critical mineral deposits, including lithium.
Since the invasion began in February 2022, the Kremlin has steadily expanded its holdings. According to SecDev and Ukrainian mining and steel industry executives, it has seized: 41 coal deposits, 27 natural gas sites, 14 propane sites, nine oil fields, six iron ore deposits, two titanium ore sites, two zirconium ore sites, one strontium site, one lithium site, one uranium site, one gold deposit, and a significant limestone quarry previously used for Ukrainian steel production.
In 2023, First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko stated that Ukraine has the largest reserves of lithium and titanium in Europe, as well as significant deposits of other minerals necessary for the production of batteries, electric vehicles, and other equipment, and for supplying fuel to nuclear power plants. The investment portfolio includes 10 projects worth $3.6 billion.
In 2023, it was reported that, according to Forbes, the value of Ukraine's mineral resources was $14.8 trillion. More than 70% of the total amount comes from only three regions – Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Luhansk. In the total value of mineral resources, 62% is provided by coal, 14% by iron ore, and each of the other assets accounts for less than 5%. The total volume of mineral resources is 111 billion tons.
However, in 2023, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine stated that Russia had occupied 740 Ukrainian mineral deposits.
In the same year, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a list of minerals that are of strategic importance for the economy and defense, as well as the deposits where they are extracted.
As indicated by the Ministry of Economy, the list includes 5 minerals: vanadium, lithium, titanium, uranium ores, and potash salt.
It is for deposits with these strategic materials, as the government anticipates, that product sharing agreements may be concluded. 26 deposits will be granted for use under product sharing agreements.
US interest in Ukraine's resources
In October 2024, during the presentation of the Peace Plan, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Kyiv proposes to the US, together with designated partners, including the European Union, and with other partners in the world, to conclude a special agreement on the joint protection of critical resources available in Ukraine, joint investment, and the use of relevant economic potential.
Back in September 2024, Trump, as reported by the Financial Times, became interested in two points of Zelenskyy's "victory plan." One of them is a probable agreement on sharing Ukraine's critical natural resources with Western partners.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham stated that Ukrainian rare earth elements could become a strategic US asset.
AFP reported that Donald Trump stated he wants to exchange rare earth metals from Ukraine for US aid.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized US President Donald Trump's demand for Ukraine to supply rare earth metals to the US in exchange for financial aid.