Ukraine Trump’s mineral demands: What are the rare earth that Trump wants so much?

• Ukraine has 5% of the world’s total mineral resources

• 20% of the world graphite, 7% of titanium resources located in Ukraine

• More than 25 million tons of iron, almost 3 million tons of manganese, 1.5b tons of chalk and limestone reserves

Istanbul / Ankara

The United States and Ukraine are on the verge of rare earth materials agreement, since the leaders of the two countries will meet on Friday in Washington.

When he returned to the White House last month, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, continued his criticism for the amount of monetary aid that the United States has given Ukraine during the course of the war, which this week marked his third anniversary.

“Europe has given $ 100 billion. The United States has given $ 350 billion because we had a stupid and incompetent president and administration,” he said on Saturday. The official figures, however, placed the figure assigned by the United States since February 2022, the beginning of the war, at $ 174 billion.

However, regardless of the amount, Trump added: “I want them to give us something for all the money we put. So, we are asking for rare earths and oil, anything we can get.”

The United States will seek compensation for its aid to Ukraine, he emphasized.

“So, we are recovering our money. We are going to recover our money because it is not fair,” he said. “And we’ll see. But I think we are quite close to a deal, and we better be close to an agreement.”

According to reports, the agreement, which includes confiscating some mining rights of rare earth materials to the United States in compensation for continuous aid, is signed on Friday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the president of the United States, Donald Trump.

“President Zelenskyy will come on Friday. That is now confirmed, and we will sign an agreement, which will be a great agreement,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

The exact details of the agreement are not yet known, but Zelenskyy told Kyiv journalists that the agreement includes “at least one mention” of security guarantees for Ukraine, adding: “The officials informed me, and it is there. This is important.”

Zelenskyy also denied the claims that the agreement on mineral resources included a great debt.

“There is no debt of $ 500 billion, or $ 350 billion, or $ 100 billion. That would be unfair to us, ”he said.

He said the agreement could be a great success, but added: “A great success depends on the conversation with Trump.”

Zelenskyy said he has not reviewed the final version of the agreement, but Ukrainian officials see it positively.

“They say ‘it can work’. I have not seen the final version, but the key problems I raised are there. Both the Ukrainian teams and the Americans worked well,” he said.

Rare Earth Materials of Ukraine

Ukraine is one of the main countries in terms of rare mineral resources.

Rare earth materials are defined in a group of 17 metal oxides that abound in the earth’s crust worldwide. They are used in many fields, such as cell phones, missile systems, electronic devices, renewable energy, the defense and medical care industry.

There are about 110 million tons of rare earth elements worldwide, according to a report by the United States Geological Service of 2024.

According to Ukraine, approximately 5% of the world’s mineral reserves, including rare earth elements, are found in Ukraine, according to a 2024 World Economic Forum report.

According to the Turkish Ministry of Commerce, Ukraine is one of the most important mineral producing countries in the world.

It is estimated that Ukraine has more than 25 million tons of iron, almost 3 million tons of manganese ore and 1.5 billion tons of chalk and limestone stone reserves.

Critical minerals such as lithium, titanium, uranium, graphite, gallium, nickel and beryllium are found in Ukraine, much of which have not yet been exploited.

The country is also among the main 10 worldwide for minerals, including bromine, magnesium metal, manganese, peat, pork and caolin iron, among others.

Before February 2022, Ukraine was a key titanium supplier for the military sector. It also has one of the largest confirmed lithium reserves in Europe (estimated at 500,000 tons), which is vital for batteries, ceramics and glass.

Ukraine has 7% of the world’s titanium reserves, first qualifying for titanium resources in Europe, estimated at 500,000 tons, according to World Bank data.

The country won more than $ 155 million of titanium exports in 2022, according to official data.

Ukraine is also the fifth largest gallium producer in the world, essential for semiconductors and LEDs, and has been an important neon gas producer, which supplies 90% of the highly purified semiconductor grade neon for the United States chip industry.

According to Ukraineinvest, the country occupies the sixth place in the world in Titanium, eighth in manganese and tenth in iron and uranium.

Uranium, of which Ukraine has significant resources, is an important raw material in nuclear energy, space research and maritime areas.

Graphite, another mineral in which the country is rich, is used in electronics, the steel industry and the aviation sector. According to reports, Ukraine has 20% of world graphite resources.

The elements of rare earths such as the Lantano, the Cerio, the Neodimium, the Ital and the Erbio are also found in Ukraine. Erbium is used in the transmission of fiber optics and lasers, while the neodymium is used in the manufacture of powerful magnets, magnetic fields, telephone and tablet technologies and eolic turbines.

The ititrium is used in laser technology and superconductors, while the Lantano increases the durability of the material in steel production.

Important non -ferrous metal reserves are also found in Ukraine, including copper (fourth in the fourth place in Europe), lead (fifth classified), zinc (sixth) and silver (ninth).

Nickel deposits (215,000 tons) and cobalt (8,800 tons) are found in the safe regions of Kirovahrad and Dnipropetrovsk.

It is speculated that Trump is interested in Ukraine minerals to exploit them in the industrial production of the United States and break China’s dominance into rare earths.

Some resources are controlled by Moscow

Ukraine has the vast majority of critical minerals in generalized use, but some of these, especially coal deposits, have fallen under the control of Moscow or are located near the front lines from the illegal annexation of Russia of Crimea in 2014 and the war that began in 2022.

Since the war began, Russia has taken control of most coal deposits, especially in eastern Ukraine. The Donetsk region devastated by the war contains the vast majority of Ukraine coal reserves.

The DNIEPER-DONETSK region affected by war also houses about 80% of proven hydrocarbon reserves of the country and represents the vast majority of the production of natural gas in Ukraine.

The Donbas region houses 15% of the industrial activity of Ukraine and more than 20% of its exports.

According to international media reports, Ukraine was forced to close the last coque coal mine in January after Russian troops approached the city of Pokrovsk, a key logistics center located west of Donetsk.

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