Kyiv and Washington are close to signing a deal over US access to Ukraine’s mineral deposits, a Ukrainian minister says.
Olga Stefanishyna, deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said on X that “negotiations have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalised”.
She added that “we are committed to completing this swiftly to proceed with its signature”.
Zelensky first included the offer of an agreement on minerals in the so-called “victory plan” that he presented to Trump last September.
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The idea was to offer the then presidential candidate a tangible reason for the US to continue supporting Ukraine.
On Monday former UK prime minister Boris Johnson said that such a deal was “the great prize” because it would secure “a United States commitment under Donald Trump to a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine”.
What minerals does Ukraine have?
Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world’s “critical raw materials” are in Ukraine. This includes some 19 million tonnes of proven reserves of graphite, which the Ukrainian Geological Survey state agency says makes the nation “one of the top five leading countries” for the supply of the mineral.
Graphite is used to make batteries for electric vehicles.
Ukraine also has a third of all European lithium deposits, the key component in current batteries. And prior to the Russian invasion, Ukraine’s global share of titanium production, a lightweight metal used in the construction of everything from aeroplanes to power stations, was 7%.
Further, Ukraine has significant deposits of rare earth metals. These are a group of 17 elements that are used to produce weapons, wind turbines, electronics and other products vital in the modern world.
Some of the mineral deposits, however, have been seized by Russia. According to Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Economy, resources worth of $350bn (£277bn) remain in occupied territories today.
In 2022, SecDev, a geopolitical risk consultancy based in Canada, conducted an evaluation, which established that Russia had occupied 63% of Ukrainian coal mines, and half of its manganese, caesium, tantalum and rare earth deposits.
Dr Robert Muggah, principal of SecDev, says that such minerals add a “strategic and economic dimension” in Russia’s continued aggression. By seizing them, he says, Moscow denies access revenue for Ukraine, expands its own resource base and influences global supply chains.
