President Donald Trump’s patience and persistence paid off. Following an impolitic encounter with Ukraine’s President Zelensky in the Oval Office in February, the Trump administration moved forward to bring peace to Ukraine. A major part of the plan was making provisions for prosperity for the former Soviet state, and the centerpiece was a rare earth minerals partnership with the US to create an economic foundation and security for post-war Kyiv. After two months of doubt about whether such a partnership could be achieved, the deal is finally done.
Minerals Deal With Ukraine
When relations between the White House and Ukraine soured after Zelensky’s public argument with President Donald Trump, the hope of securing the natural resources agreement seemed remote. However, while the Trump administration had turned to the more immediate challenge of getting a ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia, quietly, behind the scenes, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent worked to bring home the deal. The Daily Caller reported:
“The United States and Ukraine signed a new economic partnership agreement on Wednesday [Apr. 30] to establish the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, aimed at accelerating Ukraine’s postwar recovery. … The long-awaited minerals agreement involves close cooperation between the Treasury Department, the US International Development Finance Corporation, and the Ukrainian government, according to a press release.”
There is real national security value for the US and a level of assurance for Ukraine that it will not be in constant danger of another invasion from Russia when eventual peace comes. The US has, for some time, been dependent on China for rare earth metals. Attempting to counter US tariffs on China, Beijing has restricted the export of heavy rare earth elements (REE). America’s defense industry depends on producing weapon systems like the F-35 stealth fighter and the Virginia- and Columbia-class nuclear submarines. A host of critical munitions are dependent on significant amounts of REE. In a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the authors explained, “The new restrictions apply to 7 of 17 REEs—samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium—and requires companies to secure special export licenses to export the minerals and magnets.”
According to the Institute of Geological Science, Ukraine has reserves of all seven REEs restricted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Independent, a British news source, observed that “According to the Institute of Geology, Ukraine possesses rare earth elements such as lanthanum and cerium, used in TVs and lighting; neodymium, used in wind turbines and EV batteries; and erbium and yttrium, whose applications range from nuclear power to lasers.”
A collaborative effort between the United States and Ukraine to extract these REE natural resources would open what some reports have described as a $12 trillion economic boon. As Treasury Secretary Bessent pointed out in a press release announcing the signed deal, “This agreement signals to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.” Bessent also wanted to clarify that the agreement stipulated “no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.” This precludes the Kremlin from profiting from its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine at the end of the conflict.
Security Assurance Included in the Deal
Ukrainians have insisted, and rightly so, on some degree of protection against a repeat of the Feb. 2022 Russian assault on the Ukrainian homeland. To that end, implicit in the agreement, US civilians would be employed in the REE mining and commercial support businesses to be a buffer against Moscow’s airstrikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure and mining sites. President Trump conveyed his perspective with a repost of a statement on Truth Social: “By negotiating a mineral deal, Trump ensures that Americans will be involved in Ukraine’s mining industry. This prevents Russia from launching an invasion, because attacking Ukraine would mean endangering American lives – something that would force the US to respond.”
Marc Thiessen’s opinion piece in a prominent Washington, DC, newspaper observed, “With this deal, the United States is now invested — literally, not figuratively — in what the deal calls ‘a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine.’ That means the United States now has a massive financial incentive to help safeguard Ukraine’s independence.” Thiessen is saying that, effectively, Ukraine has security assurances with the minerals deal. In some ways, having US civilian workers in Ukraine is more effective than having military peace-keeping boots on the ground.
The long-anticipated United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund has all the earmarks of a win-win. America will have access to an alternative source of REE, reducing the CCP’s ability to hold the US hostage to its monopoly on this critical resource. Ukraine will have a reliable investment partner in rebuilding its economy and the towns and cities destroyed by more than three years of conflict. Kyiv also receives security over its sovereignty, which Zelensky has persistently sought.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
