WASHINGTON, November 26. /TASS/. Politicians and businessmen in Kiev seek to persuade US President-elect Donald Trump to provide military aid to Ukraine in exchange for energy and minerals, The Washington Post writes, citing sources in Kiev.

Alexey Chernyshov, CEO of the state-owned NaftoGas oil and gas company, has predicted high profits from the sale of Ukraine’s resources, the newspaper notes. "I’m confident US companies have a great future in Ukraine now - not tomorrow," he said, as cited by the newspaper.

"Control of lithium is the control of the future economy," said Volodymyr Vasiuk, an industry expert who advises Ukraine’s parliament on economic matters.

"We need to provide representatives of the Trump administration, and Mr. Trump himself, with the most comprehensive information about the logic of the process," Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, stated. "You spend a small amount of money today to support Ukraine - on weapons, finances and so on - investing and producing," he added.

However, the paper notes that it would be difficult for Vladimir Zelensky to convince Trump of the need to continue to support Ukraine because his entourage - including Vice President-elect JD Vance and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk - "cast doubt on the US role" in the conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on November 25 that the US needed Ukraine’s rare earth metals, particularly lithium, and intended to take them as payment for military assistance.