President Donald Trump said Monday that he wants to do a deal with Ukraine for access to the country’s rare earth minerals in return for U.S. support in its war against Russia.
Rare earth metals have become increasingly important to the global economy, and play crucial roles in modern electronics such as cell phones and in green technology.
Trump has at times voiced reluctance at backing Ukraine and complained that Washington has footed too much of the bill, compared with European allies.
A deal would allow him to claim an ‘America First’ victory.
‘We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth and other things,’ he told reporters in the Oval Office.
He signaled that Kyiv was ready to make an agreement.
‘I want to have security of rare earth,’ he said.
‘We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth. And I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do it.’
Donald Trump said: ‘We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth and other things.’
Samples of rare earth minerals from left, Cerium oxide, Bastnasite, Neodymium oxide and Lanthanum carbonate are on display during a tour of Molycorp’s Mountain Pass Rare Earth facility in Mountain Pass, California
A Russian missile strike killed 14 people, including three children in Poltava, Ukraine on Feb 3
National security analysts say the U.S. has lost ground to China on securing access to the crucial elements.
That gives China leverage over the U.S. if Trump’s plans to slap tariffs on Beijing trigger a global trade war.
The presence of rare earth deposits in Greenland has also been cited as one of the reasons why Trump is so keen to acquire the icy, Danish territory.
In the meantime, Trump claimed negotiations continued to bring the war to an end.
‘We made a lot of progress on Russia, Ukraine,’ said Trump, who claimed during the election campaign that he would end the war on day one.
‘We’ll see what happens. We’re going to stop that ridiculous war.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Associated Press at the weekend that any negotiations between the US and Russia but without his country were unacceptable.
‘They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us – it is dangerous for everyone,’ he said.