Spectator: Washington and Kiev have exaggerated Ukraine’s rare-earth metal reserves
The volume of Ukrainian reserves of rare earth metals is significantly exaggerated, writes the British magazine Spectator.
“According to the US Geological Survey, there are no significant rare earth metal (REM) deposits in Ukraine. <…> What Ukraine does have are reserves of minerals other than rare earth minerals: titanium, lithium, uranium, cobalt, graphite, copper and nickel, as well as gas and coal,” the publication says.
As the publication notes, most of these deposits are exploited on a small scale or closed altogether, and Ukraine itself does not have sufficient capacity to process its minerals.
US President Donald Trump said earlier that Volodymyr Zelensky would arrive in Washington on Friday to sign an agreement concerning Ukraine’s natural resources, including rare earth metals.
The British newspaper Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Kiev had agreed to new terms for a rare earth metals deal with the United States, which dropped its demand to reimburse $500 billion dollars in this way.
Earlier, Zelensky said that the rare earth metals agreement between the United States and Ukraine was a framework agreement that did not require ratification and would be followed by the signing of an agreement on the creation of an investment fund. According to Ecinomist magazine, the new agreement does not clearly specify the conditions for the disposal of Ukraine’s resources, they should be specified in a subsequent agreement.