BRUSSELS, February 5. /TASS/. The Ukrainian authorities managed to use the issue of transfer of rare earth materials and other resources for attracting the attention of US President Donald Trump to the country, Politico wrote citing a European raw materials expert.
"Ukrainians are obviously looking for whatever attracts Trump’s attention. And this (issue of resources - TASS) definitely has captured his attention," the expert who spoke on condition of anonymity told the newspaper.
Ukraine’s titanium reserves are "in the top league," he believes. Moreover, Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 50 materials the US has identified as critical. The country is particularly rich in graphite, lithium, titanium, beryllium and uranium, per the Ukrainian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources. Those resources are essential to manufacture batteries, radar systems and armor, and would go some way to reducing US reliance on Chinese minerals, according to the publication.
The resource argument "is very digestible for Donald Trump and the Trump administration in terms of Ukraine’s value," said Daniel Vajdich, head of the Yorktown Solutions consultancy. "Whereas for a lot of folks in the previous administration supporting Ukraine was about freedom and democracy, that doesn’t resonate with Trump. <…> We need other reasons to draw them in to why supporting Ukraine and fighting for Ukraine makes sense," he said.
The Ukrainian side started working in this direction immediately after Chris Wright was confirmed as the US’ next energy secretary, the paper said. Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko sent a letter to his US counterpart saying that Kiev was ready to work with the Trump administration to fashion a strategic commercial stake for the US in Ukraine’s energy sector.
On February 3, Trump said that Washington was interested in receiving rare earth metals from Ukraine in exchange for the US' aid. Vladimir Zelensky acknowledged that large volumes of mineral resources and rare earth metals that Ukraine offered to the US are located on territories not controlled by Kiev.