Russian occupiers captured less than 20% of mineral resources. Ukraine needs help to protect what’s left - Zelenskyy
Today, approximately 20% of Ukraine's territory is under Russian occupation. At the same time, the share of captured natural resources is smaller.
According to Censor.NET, this was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with Reuters.
"If we assume that about 20% of our land has been seized, they have certainly not seized 20% of our mineral resources. So far, it is less," the President said.
He noted that the value of Ukraine's mineral resources in the territories currently controlled by Russia is estimated at trillions of dollars, so sanctions against Russia should be total.
At the same time, Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine's remaining resources are in dire need of protection.
"We need to stop Putin and protect what we have. A lot in the Dnipro region, a lot in central Ukraine and in the west. unfortunately, we lost coal, but I know that they also lost a lot there because they did not know what to do with the mines, they flooded many of them," Zelenskyy added.
As a reminder, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv is not offering to simply transfer its rare earth resources to the United States, but rather seeks to build a mutually beneficial partnership for their joint use in Ukraine.
