Donald Trump has reportedly agreed a deal for the US to jointly develop Ukraine’s mineral resources. Although the agreement, which has yet to be signed, is not thought to include any security guarantees for Ukraine, Kyiv will hope it will pave the way for continued US support in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
The deal also appears not to include Trump’s previous demand for rights to US$500 billion (£394 billion) of revenue from Ukraine’s rare and critical minerals. But it will help secure American access to what are essential resources in the 21st century economy and for which the US has been heavily reliant on supplies from other countries, notably China.
Rare minerals such as gallium are critical for advanced defence technologies but are not readily available to the US domestically. And China, a leading supplier of gallium, has used its control over the resource as leverage against the US. It has imposed a ban on rare minerals being exported to the US, as part of its retaliation to increased US tariffs on Chinese goods.
