“Today, Trump claims Ukraine’s raw materials as a way to fuel America’s economy. But these raw materials are not only Ukrainian, they’re also European.,” Kuleba said. “Why should Europe give away the resources that should fuel its own economy to America?”
One of the lead architects of the proposal, Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, said he is dangling Ukraine’s mineral wealth in front of the president to persuade him that Ukraine is worth protecting — even pulling out a map to show Trump where Ukraine’s riches are located.
“The main thing for me is that Ukraine has value — literally has value,” Graham said at a POLITICO Pub event on the sidelines of the Munich conference. “Trump now sees Ukraine differently … I said these people are sitting on a gold mine … I showed him a map, ‘look!’”
Earlier this week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brought a draft agreement on economic cooperation, including rare earths, and presented it to Zelenskyy during a visit in Kyiv.
At a news conference after the meeting with Bessent, Zelenskyy said: “We really want to sign it as soon as possible. Because we don’t want to waste time.”
Bessent said: “We believe this agreement will be a strong signal to the Russian leadership of the U.S. commitment that we have here. And we think it will be a strong signal to the American people that the money that is coming to Ukraine, we have shared values, we have shared security, and we look to increase our shared economic commitment.”
