US President Donald Trump has claimed that Washington’s minerals agreement with Ukraine gives the United States broad access to the country’s natural resources, saying American companies could enter Ukraine and extract “almost anything” they want.
Speaking in an interview with US journalist Steve Gruber, Trump described Ukraine as a country with vast deposits of rare earth and other critical minerals.
“Ukraine has land that is very rich in rare earth minerals,” Trump said. “We have a signed contract on rare earths. We can go in there at any time and take almost anything we want. It’s a very good deal.”
Trump’s remarks offered an unusually expansive interpretation of the agreement, which was reached as Washington sought to secure greater access to Ukraine’s mineral wealth and recover some of the costs associated with US support for Kyiv.
The comments come amid growing tensions between the United States and China over trade, technology and access to strategic raw materials.
Washington has been seeking alternative sources of critical minerals used in industries including electronics, renewable energy, defence manufacturing and advanced technology.
Rare earths are a group of 17 chemical elements considered essential to many modern industries. China dominates global rare earth supply chains, accounting for around 60 percent of worldwide production and an even larger share of processing capacity.
US officials have increasingly viewed the diversification of critical-mineral supplies as a national security priority aimed at reducing dependence on Beijing.