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Reuters

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that a minerals deal between Kyiv and Washington would provide Ukraine with a post-war “security shield”, and President Volodmyr Zelensky said he hoped to reach an agreement later this week.
Bessent, the first cabinet-level official on Donald Trump’s team to visit Kyiv, spoke after Zelensky said he was ready to do a deal to open Ukraine’s mineral resources to US investment, as he vies for the US president’s backing.
Trump, who wants a rapid end to the war with Russia but has not said whether he will continue vital military aid to Kyiv, has said he wants US$500 billion in rare earth minerals from Ukraine and that Washington’s support needs to be “secured”.
Following is an overview of the critical minerals, including rare earths, and other natural resources in Ukraine that could be of interest to the US and other partners:
What are rare earths and what are they used for?
Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion for electric vehicles, mobile phones, missile systems, and other electronics. There are no viable substitutes.
The US Geological Survey considers 50 minerals to be critical, including rare earths such as nickel and lithium.
Critical minerals are essential for industries such as defence, hi-tech appliances, aerospace and green energy.




What mineral resources does Ukraine have?
Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the European Union as critical, according to Ukrainian data. They include industrial and construction materials, ferroalloy, precious and non-ferrous metals, and some rare earth elements.
According to Ukraine’s Institute of Geology, the country possesses rare earths 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. EU-funded research also indicates that Ukraine has scandium reserves. Detailed data are classified.
The World Economic Forum has said Ukraine is also a key potential supplier of lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite and nickel.
The State Geological Service said Ukraine has one of Europe’s largest confirmed reserves, estimated at 500,000 tonnes, of lithium - vital for batteries, ceramics, and glass.
The country has titanium reserves, mostly located in its northwestern and central regions, while lithium is found in the centre, east and southeast.
Ukraine’s reserves of graphite, a key component in electric vehicle batteries and nuclear reactors, represent 20 per cent of global resources. The deposits are in the centre and west.
Ukraine also has significant coal reserves, though most are now under the control of Russia in occupied territory.

What has Ukraine said about rare earths?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Reuters on February 7 that he was ready to do a deal with Trump that includes US involvement in developing Ukraine’s huge deposits of critical minerals, including rare earths.
Zelensky originally aired the idea in his “victory plan” strategy, presented to Kyiv’s allies last autumn.
Among other things, the plan proposes reaching agreements with foreign partners to provide joint access to Ukraine’s strategically valuable resources.
Mining analysts and economists say Ukraine currently has no commercially operational rare earth mines.
China, with whom Trump has threatened a trade war, is the world’s largest producer of rare earths and many other critical minerals.
Which Ukrainian resources are under Kyiv’s control?
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. They provided no detailed breakdown.
Since then, Russian troops have continued to advance steadily in the eastern Donetsk region. In January, Ukraine closed its only coking coal mine outside the city of Pokrovsk, which Moscow’s forces are trying to capture.
Russia has occupied at least two Ukrainian lithium deposits during the war - one in Donetsk and another in the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast. Kyiv still controls lithium deposits in the central Kyrovohrad region.
What mining opportunities does Ukraine offer?
Oleksiy Sobolev, first deputy economy minister, said in January that the government was working on deals with Western allies including the United States, Britain, France and Italy on projects related to exploiting critical materials. The government estimates the sector’s total investment potential at about US$12-15 billion by 2033.
The State Geological Service said the government was preparing about 100 sites to be jointly licensed and developed but provided no further details.
Although Ukraine has a highly qualified and relatively inexpensive labour force and developed infrastructure, investors highlight a number of barriers to investment. These include inefficient and complex regulatory processes as well as difficulty accessing geological data and obtaining land plots.
Such projects would take years to develop and require considerable up-front investment, they said.


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Ukraine war

The open pit mine of Zavallievsky Graphite in Zavallia, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

Donald Trump meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris in December. Photo: Ukraine Presidency via dpa

US Treasury Secretary Bessent to visit Kyiv as Trump seeks Ukraine’s rare earths

A Ukrainian military deminer checks an unexploded Russian aerial guided bomb in a field in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine. Photo: AFP

Russian soldiers prepare to fire toward Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP

Trump floats Ukraine ‘may be Russian someday’ ahead of Zelensky-Vance meeting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US Vice-President J.D. Vance on Friday. Photo: AFP

A Ukrainian self-propelled howitzer fires towards Russian positions at the front line in the Donetsk region, Ukraine. Photo: AP

Russian soldiers prepare to fire toward Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry via AP

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: AFP

Russian servicemen wave flags on the roof of a building in Velyka Novosilka, Donetsk region, in January. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry via EPA-EFE 

Ukraine Nato membership, return to 2014 borders ‘unrealistic’, says US defence chief

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact group at Nato headquarters in Brussels on February 12, 2025. Photo: AP

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth (left), Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (middle) and British chief of Defence Admiral Sir Tony Radakinm Umerov at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on February 12, 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a meeting with the President of the European Investment Bank in Kyiv on Monday. Photo: AFP

Zelensky offers land swaps with Russia to help end Ukraine war

A Russian drone attacks a German-made Leopard tank at an undisclosed location in the Kursk region, in an image released in January. Photo: Russian defence ministry via EPA-EFE

Donald Trump (right) meets Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at Trump Tower in New York in September. Photo: AP

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 2019 G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. File photo: AP

Ukrainian servicemen fire a 120mm mortar towards Russian positions at an undisclosed location near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region. Photo: 24th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces via AFP

Russian soldiers ride atop an Akatsyia self-propelled gun on an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry via AP

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US President Donald Trump wants a substantial rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine for Washington’s support


US President Donald Trump wants a substantial rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine for Washington’s support.


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Explainer | Ukraine’s rare earths: the US$500 billion war prize Trump wants to secure

US President Donald Trump wants a substantial rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine for Washington’s support

What are rare earths and what are they used for?