Washington reportedly indicated it wants to control 50% of the country’s mineral wealth as reimbursement for aid
The US could send troops to guard Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, which it wants as repayment for American aid, NBC reported on Saturday, citing unnamed officials.
The report followed recent statements made by US President Donald Trump, who demanded the “equivalent of $500 billion worth of rare earths” from Ukraine in exchange for what he estimated to be “more than $300 billion” Washington had provided in aid since the escalation of Kiev’s conflict with Moscow in 2022.
Trump’s demand was presented to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a contract proposal he brought to their meeting in Kiev earlier this week. According to multiple reports, under the deal, the US is to be granted 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as reimbursement for US aid.
However, according to four officials who spoke to NBC, the proposed contract also signaled Washington’s intention to deploy American troops to the sites as a protection detail. The deployment could reportedly come after Russia and Ukraine reached a deal to end the ongoing conflict.
Washington’s position on the deployment of troops to Ukraine is currently unclear. Speaking at a gathering of Kiev’s supporters in Brussels earlier this week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ruled out sending American forces there following any security deal. However, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, US Vice President J.D. Vance indicated that the possibility of sending American troops to Ukraine remained “on the table” if Moscow refused to engage in good-faith negotiations.
Zelensky has so far rejected the US bid to take ownership of 50% of his country’s rare earth minerals. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, he said the US proposal so far lacked “security guarantees” for Kiev and was not “in the interests of sovereign Ukraine.”
“For me it is very important that there is a connection between some kind of security guarantees and some kind of investment… If we want to sign something we have to understand that it will work and it will be very positive for both nations,” he stated. Zelensky indicated that the document Bessent presented to him will need to be amended to reflect Ukraine’s interests, noting he would like to have a mutually beneficial partnership with the US as opposed to simply giving his country’s natural resources away.
There are over a dozen elements considered to be rare earths, and their applications range from lighting and batteries to nuclear power and lasers. According to Ukraine’s Institute of Geology, the country’s deposits include lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, erbium and yttrium. However, Zelensky recently admitted that a large chunk of Ukraine’s mineral-rich territories, some 20%, is currently under Russian control.
