Ukraine's rare earth metals demanded by Trump in exchange for aid: what is known about them
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine has the largest lithium and titanium reserves 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 said he wants to exchange rare earth metals from Ukraine for American aid. Earlier , First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said that Ukraine has the largest reserves of lithium and titanium in Europe. UNN collected information about rare earth metals.
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 phosphate ores of rare earth and rare metals. Ukraine's confirmed lithium reserves are the largest in Europe. It was noted that the country also has a real opportunity to enter the global market with pure and ultrapure metals, such as gallium, indium, thallium, lead, and tin.
According to the Canadian geopolitical risk assessment firm SecDev, published in 2022, Ukrainian energy fields, 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 deposits, 20% of natural gas deposits, 42% of metals and 33% of deposits of rare earth and other critical minerals, including lithium.
Since the invasion began in February 2022, the Kremlin has steadily expanded its holdings. According to SecDev and leaders of Ukraine's mining and steel industries, it has seized: 41 coal deposits, 27 natural gas sites, 14 propane sites, nine oil deposits, six iron ore sites, 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 that was previously used for Ukrainian steel production.
In 2023, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko claimed that Ukraine has the largest reserves in Europe of lithium, titanium, and significant deposits of other minerals needed to produce batteries, electric vehicles, and other equipment, as well as to provide fuel for nuclear power plants. Investment portfolio: 10 projects worth $3.6 billion.
In 2023, it was reported that, according to Forbes , the value of Ukraine's mineral resources amounted to $14.8 trillion. At the same time, more than 70% of the total amount is accounted for by only three regions - Donetsk, Dnipro and Luhansk. Coal accounts for 62% of the total value of mineral resources, iron ore for 14%, and each of the other assets 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 of strategic importance for the economy and defense, as well as the deposits where they are extracted.
According to the Ministry of Economy, the list includes 5 minerals: vanadium, lithium, titanium, uranium ores, and potassium salt.
It is the fields with these strategic materialsthat may be subject to production sharing agreements, according to the government. 26 fields will be provided for use under production sharing agreements.
US interest in Ukraine's resources
In October 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated during the presentation of the Peace Plan that Kyiv proposes that the United States, together with certain partners, including the European Union, and other partners in the world, conclude a special agreement on joint protection of Ukraine's critical resources, joint investment, and use of the relevant economic potential.
As early as September 2024 , Trump, according to the Financial Times, was interested in two points of Zelenskyy's "victory plan." One is a possible deal to share Ukraine's critical natural resources with Western partners.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that Ukrainian rare earths could become a strategic asset for the United States.
AFP reportedthat Donald Trump said he wants to exchange rare earth metals from Ukraine for US aid.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized US President Donald Trump's demand that Ukraine supply rare earth metals to the US in exchange for financial aid.