President Donald Trump noted a potential deal to grant the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth metals (REM) in exchange for continued military and economic aid to Kyiv, which aligns with President Zelensky's “Peace plan.”
Interest in Ukraine’s REM from its closest allies is not new. In 2021, the EU and Ukraine initiated a strategic partnership on raw materials to achieve closer integration in value chains. The two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding and approved an initial roadmap. According to the documents, Ukraine possesses essential deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals critical to the European Union, including titanium, manganese, zirconium, and graphite.
In February 2023, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers approved a list of 26 strategic subsoil sites essential for economic development and defence capability. These sites contain mineral deposits of scandium, tantalum, niobium, lithium, titanium, uranium, and other valuable fossil minerals.
As in maths, securing strategic partners to gain an economic foothold in Ukraine is essential but insufficient to alter the country's trajectory towards quicker growth. A strong rule of law, robust democratic institutions, and a well-developed civil society must be prioritised alongside solid security guarantees. Regardless of how distant these elements may seem from the current state of war, aligning all factors correctly and adding a dash of good fortune could enable Ukraine to achieve tremendous progress swiftly. This is precisely what Putin’s killing machine is fiercely fighting against.
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