Trump ‘wants 50% cut’ of Ukraine’s mineral riches in return for peace

(Independent)- United States President Donald Trump wants half the revenue from Ukraine’s minerals and veto rights over licencing in return for providing security guarantees in the event of a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, according to a report of leaked documents.

Trump previously said he wants Ukraine to pay for financial and military support by affording Washington access to the country’s vast but untapped rare earth minerals. However, new documents show a deal between the two countries could expand US access to Ukraine’s ports, infrastructure, oil and gas.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is ready to do a deal with Trump that includes US involvement in developing Ukraine‘s huge deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals.

The Kremlin jumped on the comments, saying it demonstrated the US is no longer willing to provide free aid to Kyiv, before adding, that it was against Trump giving any help to Ukraine whatsoever.

However, a new pre-decisional contract, obtained by The Telegraph, reportedly states that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund to ensure that “hostile parties to the conflict do not benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.

The “Privileged & Confidential” contract, dated 7 February, also reportedly covers the “economic value associated with resources of Ukraine”, including “mineral resources, oil and gas resources, ports, other infrastructure (as agreed)”.

The proposed agreement means the US will take 50 per cent of recurring revenues received by Ukraine from extraction of resources and 50 per cent of the financial value of “all new licences issued to third parties” for the future monetisation of resources, according to The Telegraph.

The contract, supposedly written by private lawyers rather than the US departments of state or commerce, further states: “For all future licences, the US will have a right of first refusal for the purchase of exportable minerals”.

The joint investment fund, according to documents seen by The Telegraph, “shall have the exclusive right to establish the method, selection criteria, terms, and conditions” of all future licences and projects.

Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion for electric vehicles, cell phones, missile systems, and other electronics. There are no viable substitutes.

The US Geological Survey considers 50 minerals to be critical, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium.

Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the European Union as critical, according to Economy Ministry data. This includes industrial and construction materials, ferroalloy, precious and non-ferrous metals, and some rare earth elements.

Mr Zelensky recently said that Russia had occupied about half of Ukraine’s rare earth deposits.

Ukraine also has significant reserves of coal. However, most of these are also now under the control of Russia in occupied territory.

Ukraine is also a key potential supplier of lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite and nickel, according to the World Economic Forum.

The war has caused widespread damage across Ukraine and Russia now controls around a fifth of its territory. The bulk of Ukraine’s coal deposits, which powered its steel industry before the war, are concentrated in the east and have been lost.

About 40 per cent of Ukraine’s metal resources are now under Russian occupation, according to estimates by Ukrainian think tanks We Build Ukraine and the National Institute of Strategic Studies, citing data up to the first half of 2024.

Details of any deal will likely develop in meetings between US and Ukrainian officials.