Ukraine will not give away its rare earth resources to United States but offers partnership – Zelenskyy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Kyiv is not offering to simply give away its rare earth resources to the United States but rather seeks to establish a mutually beneficial partnership for their joint development in Ukraine.
The head of state made this statement in an interview with Reuters, as reported by Censor.NET.
Zelenskyy reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready for negotiations, but only on the condition of security guarantees from its allies as part of any war settlement. Kyiv remains open to reaching an agreement with the United States.
"We must stop Putin and safeguard our resources—the resource-rich Dnipropetrovsk region and central Ukraine," the president emphasized.
"The Americans have helped the most, and so they should get the most out of it. This is their priority, and they will have it. I would also like to discuss this with President Trump," the President noted.
"Zelenskyy unfurled a map on a table in the heavily-defended president's office in Kyiv, showing numerous mineral deposits, including a broad strip of land in the east marked as containing rare earths. Around half of it looked to be on Russia's side of the current frontlines," Reuters writes.
According to the head of state, Russia knew in detail about the location of Ukraine's key resources thanks to Soviet geological research.
Currently, less than 20% of Ukraine's mineral reserves, including about half of its rare earth deposits, are under Russian occupation.
Zelenskyy added that Ukraine has the largest reserves of titanium in Europe, which is essential for the aviation and space industries, as well as significant deposits of uranium used in nuclear energy and defense.
The day before, US President Donald Trump said that he was trying to find a way to exchange Ukraine's rare earth elements for American aid.
