CRITICAL MINERALSUkraine Needs U.S. Weapons. Trump Wants Its Rare Earth Minerals in Return.
President Donald Trump wants to condition future U.S. aid to Ukraine on getting more access to the country’s valuable “rare earth” minerals — minerals that are in increasing demand for batteries, computers, smart phones, and electric cars, not to mention weaponry.
There’s already a flurry of diplomatic wrangling, backchannel talks, and public posturing ongoing between Washington, Moscow, and Kyiv, to figure out how to halt the nearly 3-year-old all-out Russian war on Ukraine.
Now add this to the mix: U.S. President Donald Trump wants to condition future U.S. aid to Ukraine on getting more access to the country’s valuable “rare earth” minerals — minerals that are in increasing demand for batteries, computers, smart phones, and electric cars, not to mention weaponry.
“We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth and other things,” he told reporters on February 3.
“I want to have security of rare earth. We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth. And I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do it,” he said.
The reaction from Ukraine? We’re not opposed.
“We are open to the fact, that all of this can be developed together, along with our partners who can help us protect our lands,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference in Kyiv. “This is absolutely fair. I talked about this in September when we met with President Trump.”
So What Is A Rare Earth Mineral, Anyway?
Rare earths are a class of about 17 minerals — for example, yttrium, cerium, lanthanum — that are found in trace amounts throughout the Earth’s surface. They’re in increasing demand because of their use in high-tech products. The ongoing race to make batteries smaller and lighter, and more powerful and longer-lasting, involves the use of rare earth minerals. Defense industries also need the minerals for weaponry and related technology.
Other rare earth minerals are used as chemical catalysts in magnets, computer drives, or generators.
The biggest hurdle for rare earth extraction is that you have to dig up a lot of soil to get an adequate amount of the minerals because they’re in such trace amounts. And then you have to separate out and refine them before you can employ them in technology or machinery.
Ukraine has substantial amounts of rare earth minerals, according to the Ukrainian Geological Survey.
