Ukraine said it is open to making a deal with the United States government for continued military aid in exchange for developing Ukraine’s mineral industry, reported The Associated Press.
“We really have this big potential in the territory which we control,” Andrii Yermak, chief of staff to the Ukrainian president, told the news agency. “We are interested to work, to develop, with our partners, first of all, with the United States.”
The pitched deal comes at a time when reliable and uninterrupted access to critical minerals is increasingly hard to come by globally.
Ukraine’s rare earth elements are largely untapped, noted The Associated Press, because of the war and state of policies regulating the mineral industry. The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, identified Ukraine as a potential supplier for more than 20 critical raw materials.
According to data from We Build Ukraine, a Kyiv-based think tank, an estimated 40% of Ukraine’s metallic mineral resources are inaccessible because of Russian occupation. Ukraine has argued that it’s in President Trump’s interest to develop the remainder before Russian advances capture more.
U.S. companies have expressed interest, according to Ukrainian business officials. However, striking a formal deal would likely require legislation, geological surveys and negotiation of specific terms.
Source: The Associated Press