Zelenskyy Dangles Rare Earth Deal to Trump: ‘Let’s Do a Deal’

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv wants to see its allies invest in its minerals after US President Donald Trump requested “rare earths” as a form of military aid.

“We have mineral resources.” “This does not mean we give them to anyone. Not even strategic partners,” Zelensky wrote on social media. He was quoting his answers from an interview he gave to Reuters.

“It is about partnership. Put your money in. Invest. Let’s develop this together and make money,” Zelensky said.

Trump said that the United States “wanted to do a deal” with Ukraine to secure their rare earths, among other things.

Zelensky, quoting his Reuters interview said that Ukraine’s mineral riches were worth “trillions” of dollars. He cited its largest reserves of uranium and titanium in Europe.

He added that it was important that Ukraine “keeps all of this” as these resources are “security guarantees”. He also said he did not want the resources to fall into Russia’s hands.

Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, criticized Trump on Saturday for his call for a rare earth deal.

“We help (Ukraine) and do not ask for payment in return. This should be everyone’s stance,” he said to the RND Media Group.”

The US President said that he “probably” would meet Zelensky in the next week at a place outside Ukraine.

Zelensky said on X Friday that Ukraine was “planning talks and meetings” with the US and they were “working out details”. He did not confirm there would be talks the following week.

Trump has called on both Moscow and Kyiv, to negotiate a ceasefire in the conflict. The war is approaching its third year as Russia continues to make steady progress in eastern Ukraine.

Although the US president has stated that he would be willing to meet with Zelensky, and Russian President Vladimir Putin but no formal talks have taken place.