Ukraine rejects US demand for half of its mineral resources

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, during a closed-door meeting on Feb 12, rejected an offer by the Trump administration to relinquish half of the country’s mineral resources in exchange for US support, according to five people briefed on the proposal or with direct knowledge of the talks.

The unusual deal would have granted the United States a 50 per cent interest in all of Ukraine’s mineral resources, including graphite, lithium and uranium, as compensation for past and future support in Kyiv’s war effort against Russian invaders, according to two European officials. A Ukrainian official and an energy expert briefed on the proposal said that the Trump administration also sought Ukrainian energy resources.

Negotiations are continuing, according to another Ukrainian official, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the talks. But the expansiveness of the proposal, and the tense negotiations around it, demonstrate the widening chasm between Ukraine and the United States over both continued US support and a potential end to the war.

The request for half of Ukraine’s minerals was made on Feb 12, when US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Zelensky in the capital, Kyiv, the first visit by a Trump administration official to Ukraine. The Treasury Department declined to comment about any negotiation.

After seeing the proposal, the Ukrainians decided to review the details and provide a counterproposal when Zelensky visited the Munich Security Conference on Feb 14 and met with Vice President JD Vance, according to the official.

It is not clear if a counterproposal was presented.

Zelensky, speaking to reporters in Munich on Feb 15, acknowledged that he had rejected a proposal from the Trump administration. He did not specify what the terms of the deal were, other than to say that it had not included security guarantees from Washington.

“I don’t see this connection in the document,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s not ready to protect us, our interests.”

Ukraine had always maintained that access to its natural resources would come in exchange for strong security guarantees from the United States. But one of the Ukrainian officials said that the proposal made no such commitment, instead framing the access to Ukraine’s resources as overdue payment for past American military and financial aid.

Source: The Straits Times/ New York Times