The United States and Ukraine are working on reaching a natural resources agreement that will allow the United States to access untapped mineral resources in Ukraine. President Trump stated that the mineral agreement with Ukraine can be seen as a security “shield” for Ukraine.
On Wednesday, February 26th, Trump mentioned that the agreement has been reached and he is “pleased” with it. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on the other hand, was more cautious, describing the agreement as potentially achieving “great success.”
In the past few weeks, rumors have been circulating about whether the United States will continue to provide military aid to Ukraine and even sell weapons.
The current focus on the US-Ukraine mineral resources agreement includes:
The draft agreement aims to establish a “Reconstruction Investment Fund” jointly managed by the United States and Ukraine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal emphasized that the agreement does not involve Ukraine’s existing mineral deposits, facilities, permits, or concession fees.
The scope of the agreement also extends beyond minerals and rare earths, covering other natural resources of Ukraine, such as oil and natural gas, as well as related infrastructure like ports and liquefied natural gas terminals.
Last week, President Trump stated that his goal is to “get back the (American taxpayers’) money,” referring to various aids provided to Ukraine by the previous US administration.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the agreement would be a win-win, not only serving the interests of Ukraine and the United States but also sending a strong signal to Russia, “showing that we value Ukraine’s interests greatly.”
“This is also very important for the American people; they need to know where their tax dollars are going and if more money needs to be invested, they can expect returns,” Bessent said.
Ukraine’s mineral resources have long been of interest to allies, and Kyiv hopes to use this as an important bargaining chip to garner support. Zelensky has explicitly expressed his desire for the agreement to include security guarantees.
He hopes that the mineral rights agreement will prompt the West to make firm security commitments to Ukraine. Despite Trump ruling out support for Ukraine’s NATO membership, Zelensky and his European allies are still discussing other options, such as deploying European forces to Ukraine after a peace agreement is reached.
Resources such as graphite, lithium, uranium, and 17 rare earth elements are crucial for economic growth and national security. They are widely used in electronics, clean energy technologies like wind turbines, energy grids, electric vehicles, and the manufacturing of certain weapon systems.
The United States heavily relies on imports for these key minerals, many of which come from China, which has long dominated the market. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated, “If we don’t want to depend on China, we need to produce independently. However, we have allowed several key industries including rare earth minerals and pharmaceuticals to fall into Chinese hands.”
While Ukraine’s rare earth mineral reserves are not outstanding globally, it boasts the world’s largest deposits of graphite, lithium, titanium, beryllium, and uranium. Despite the vast reserves of these mineral resources, Ukraine lacks the capacity and resources to exploit them adequately. Without foreign investment, Kyiv would struggle to develop these mineral resources independently.