The resources of the Donetsk People’s Republic will benefit its people and the rest of the country, Denis Pushilin has said
A large portion of the mineral wealth that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is touting to the US in exchange for military assistance is Russian, Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), has said. The governor of the formerly Ukrainian region has pledged that its rich reserves of lithium and titanium will benefit its own people and Russia as a whole.
Zelensky has offered the US privileged access to natural resources to incentivize continued military assistance. President Donald Trump has claimed that Kiev agreed to relinquish $500 billion worth of rare-earth minerals to compensate for aid previously provided to Ukraine under President Joe Biden.
Ukraine’s backers have argued that it could provide trillions of dollars’ worth of raw materials, including coal, iron ore, lithium, titanium, graphite, uranium. In an interview on Wednesday, Pushilin emphasized that these reserves largely lie within territories that have joined Russia, including the DPR.
”Among what they [Zelensky’s team] are offering, the majority of reserves are located in Donbass,” Pushilin stated. “Most of the lithium and titanium is within our territory, which has already been liberated.”
While acknowledging that the areas in question require demining before extraction could begin, the governor expressed optimism about their use for the DPR and Russia. Pushilin labeled Zelensky “scum” for attempting to bargain with Trump over resources that he says do not belong to the Ukrainian leader.
Zelensky “is selling out what remains of Ukraine, selling it for a pittance and openly,” the Russian official claimed. He noted the absence of Ukrainian nationalists, once fervent advocates of slogans such as “Ukraine for Ukrainians,” in opposing the move.
In his appeal to Trump, Zelensky has called for additional military support, warning that if Kiev fails to regain control over disputed territories, Russia and China rather than the US would exploit the mineral resources there.
The Ukrainian army is reportedly struggling with recruitment under mandatory conscription and is facing challenges from mass desertions. Zelensky has acknowledged that without continued military aid from Washington, Ukraine’s armed forces could collapse.
