Ukraine must have the capacity to ensure its recovery after the war using its own resources. This was stated by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as reported by Tagesschau.
In the opinion of the head of the German government, it would be "very selfish, very self-centered" to utilize Ukrainian resources to fund defense support.
This comment from Scholz followed President Donald Trump's statement regarding interest in accessing Ukrainian rare earth metals in exchange for U.S. assistance.
We are planning to make a deal with Ukraine, under which they will receive what we provide in exchange for rare elements and other goods.
Trump explained that Washington spends hundreds of billions of dollars, while Kyiv possesses "wonderful rare earth elements." As noted by Reuters, it remains unclear whether Trump meant all types of critical minerals or just rare elements.
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Rare earth elements (REE) are a group of 17 metals, including 15 lanthanides, as well as scandium and yttrium.
The U.S. Geological Survey identifies 50 minerals that are critical to the economy and national security. This list includes manganese, lithium, titanium, nickel, graphite, beryllium, and others.
Ukraine is a key supplier of rare earth metals, including titanium, lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, and nickel. It has significant reserves of non-ferrous metals—copper (fourth in Europe), lead (fifth), zinc (sixth), and silver (ninth).
Nickel (215,000 tons) and cobalt (8,800 tons) deposits are located in the Kirovohrad and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Graphite reserves account for 20% of the world's total.
Ukraine holds the largest titanium reserves in Europe (7% of the global total), and prior to the armed invasion by Russia, it was the main supplier of titanium for the military sector, according to the World Economic Forum.
Titanium ores are extremely important for the aerospace, medical, automotive, and marine industries, with approximately 500,000 tons of lithium reserves needed for battery production.
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The proposal for joint development with the U.S. for the extraction of rare earth metals, including lithium and uranium, came from the official Kyiv, which sought ways to engage Trump's administration in continuing support after his election victory.
President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that military supplies align with American economic interests, as they can help U.S. industry.
Ukraine is ready to cooperate with Washington on the extraction of rare earth minerals if the U.S. provides adequate security guarantees against Russian aggression, a senior official told The New York Times.
In December, a delegation from the Ukrainian government met in Washington with American businessmen and proposed options for potential agreements, such as acquiring licenses for the extraction of essential minerals.