US president Donald Trump said Washington should receive compensation in the form of accessing natural resources for multibillional care that he provides Ukraine in confrontation between Russian aggression.
Donald Trump wants to access Ukrainian minerals in exchange for the help provided during the war. At the same time, he made it clear that the confrontation of Ukraine and Russia could end the success of any parties, and he did not know if it was possible to end a peace agreement.
“They may be in agreement. They may not be up to date. They may someday be in Russia, or may not be in Russia,” Trump said of Ukraine. “But we will have all this money there, and I want to return it. ”
What does Trump want
According to Trump, the Ukrainian “territory is of great value from the point of view of rare -earth metals, from the point of view of oil and gas.” “I wanted our money to be safe because we spent a way -billions of dollars,” Trump added.
At the same time, in an interview with Fox News, Trump called the value of the alleged transaction between Ukraine and the United States to access to natural resources of $ 500 billion, where Ukrainian officials, according to him , “Really come.”
But earlier the figure of an agreement of $ 500 million, that is, is an order of magnitude lower.
According to the American State Department, on January 20, 2025, that was, before the Trump’s inauguration, during a full -scale raid on Russia of Ukraine, the United States gave Ukraine nearly $ 69.2 billion.
At the same time, the Authoritative American Analytical Council on International Relations (Council on Foreign Relations) reviews the total amount of American assistance in Ukraine since the beginning of a full -scale war of $ 175 billion.
What kind of mineral
The rare elements of the soil include a group of 17 metal, which is used in the manufacture of electronics, as well as electrical motorcycles. Despite the name, these metals are widespread on Earth, but it is quite difficult to find their concentration somewhere and establish a mass production that can pay.
However, as the Reuters note, Trump may have in mind not only these specific substances, but the critical minerals as a whole, that is, minerals, which are very important for the major branches of the modern industry.
The agency remembers that Ukraine has a major reserve of uranium, lithium and titanium, but they are not among the largest in the world – and the US has its own reserves, as well as other critical minerals.
A significant part of Ukrainian natural resources can be found in territories occupied by Russian troops. Therefore, prospects for their development will remain, in principle, unclear – and impossible in conditions of ongoing war.
Exchange of territories
Trump talks about Ukrainian minerals, while representatives of his administration are preparing for negotiations in Ukraine, including the Munich Security Conference, which opens on February 14th.
Vladimir Zelensky said in an interview with Guardian that part of the future peaceful agreement could be replaced by territories: Ukraine will restore the captured areas of the Kursk region, and Russia – the occupied lands of Ukrainian.
“We’re going to change one territory to another,” Zelensky said, but added that he didn’t know what kind of places he would ask for in return. “I don’t know, let’s see. But all of our territories are important, there are no priorities here,” Guardian told him.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.