Trump's Ukraine minerals deal has major flaw - WSJ
Photo: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump has made it clear that he is open to supplying Ukraine with more weapons in exchange for access to the country's mineral resources. But putting the plan into practice may not be so easy, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Many of the minerals of greatest interest to the United States are located in areas occupied by Russia or threatened by Moscow's offensive.
As a result, access to Ukraine's valuable natural resources will depend, at least in part, on the battle for eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces are currently advancing slowly but surely.
Although deposits of rare earth metals have been discovered in several parts of Ukraine, the largest known deposit is located near the front line in eastern Ukraine, the WSJ writes.
Experts have expressed skepticism that some of Ukraine's minerals, including rare earth metals, could be mined anytime soon.
Wolf-Christian Paez of the International Institute for Strategic Studies stated that the biggest drawback of the plan was that most of the reserves were located in areas of Ukraine under Russian control or very close to the front line, meaning that no one would be able to extract and process the materials. He added that these assets would be difficult to access without a lasting peace in Ukraine and that a ceasefire would not be enough
In addition, rare earth metals are very expensive to mine, and the known deposits in Ukraine are much smaller than in the United States, added George Ingall, price analyst at Benchmark Minerals Intelligence.
Ukraine-US agreement
The Ukrainian government has approved the text of a framework agreement on the creation of a joint investment fund to which revenues from Ukraine's natural resources will be transferred. The Cabinet of Ministers authorized the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko, or Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha to sign the agreement.
The agreement was to be signed during President Zelenskyy's visit to the United States on February 28. However, his meeting with US President Donald Trump ended in a scandal, after which Zelenskyy left the White House without a signed agreement.
The Ukrainian government has since reiterated its readiness to sign the agreement.
