Ukraine holds significant reserves of the critical raw materials and rare earths needed to develop cutting-edge technology.
ADVERTISEMENTA deal on US access to Ukraine’s coveted minerals and rare earths is still on the cards, both Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week, despite the continued deterioration in the US-Ukraine relationship.
The signing of the agreement – for which the framework has already been agreed – was scuppered by the fiery confrontation between Trump and Zelenskyy last Friday. The US has since temporarily paused its military aid to Ukraine.
But Kyiv hopes the prospect of privileged US access to Ukraine’s natural resources could help persuade Trump to commit to long-term security guarantees.
Trump has previously said the deal would allow the US to recuperate the financial assistance it has given Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. He puts this figure at $350 billion, while just $83.4 billion has in fact been disbursed since 2022 according to US government records.
Euroverify breaks down what critical materials and minerals Ukraine has and why Trump could still seek access to them.
What raw materials and minerals does Ukraine have?
The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates there are 20,000 mineral deposits covering 116 types in Ukraine, 3,055 (15%) of which were active before Russia’s invasion in 2022.
According to Ukraine’s economic ministry, these include 22 of the 34 raw materials listed as “critical” under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), a 2024 bill aimed at minimising the bloc’s reliance on geo-strategic rivals such as China for the materials needed to produce electric vehicles, solar panels, microchips and other strategic technologies.
Ukraine has an estimated 500,000 tons of untapped lithium, essential for the production of rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs). This equates to around a third of Europe’s and 3% of the world’s reserves.
Two major sites, Shevchenko Deposit (Donetsk) and Kruta Balka (Zaporizhzhia), are currently located in occupied or conflict areas.
Ukraine also accounts for 6% of global production of Titanium, according to the Kyiv School of Economics, used in aerospace, military, and medical applications, and is the world’s 5th largest gallium producer, essential for semiconductors.
It is among the world’s five leading countries in terms of graphite reserves, also essential for the production of EV batteries, and features among the top ten counties worldwide for reserves of carbon, manganese, iron, titanium and uranium.
As well as these raw materials, Ukraine’s territory is believed to hold significant reserves of rare earths, a group of 17 metallic elements also used in high-tech devices such as smartphones, wind turbines and MRIs.
While the extent of its rare earth deposits is confidential, they are estimated to account for 5% of global reserves, according to the UN.
How many are held in occupied territories?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Russia currently controls approximately 20% of Ukraine’s mineral resources, corresponding to the amount of Ukrainian territory it occupies.
Ukrainian think tanks cited by Reuters say around 40% of Ukrainian metals are in lands controlled by Russia.
ADVERTISEMENTA look at the map shows that vast deposits of lithium, titanium and rare earths are in the south-eastern provinces that Russia has captured since it invaded in 2022.
The invasion has already disrupted the supply chains of many of these minerals.
Why are democratic countries seeking access?
China dominates the raw materials processing market, making other global powers reliant on it.
Beijing has in recent years halted or restricted exports of critical raw materials to the European Union and the US, forcing the West to intensify efforts to diversify supply chains as the demand for such materials sky-rockets.
ADVERTISEMENTIn 2021, the European Union and Ukraine struck a strategic partnership on raw materials, described as intended to “help diversify, strengthen and secure both sides’ supply.”
The European Commissioner for industrial strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, recently called on the EU to fully implement that partnership, describing it as “a win-win for the Ukrainians.”
Is the US-Ukraine deal still alive?
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on Tuesday that Kyiv is ready to sign the mineras extraction deal with the US “at any time.”
Asked on Monday whether the deal was “dead”, President Trump replied: “No, I don’t think so. I think it’s a great deal for us.”
ADVERTISEMENTUK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who together with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron is expected to take the lead on drafting a ceasefire plan to be presented to the US, has said that Trump’s proposed minerals deal would not be a sufficient security guarantee to ensure a lasting peace in Ukraine.
