What’s the context?
What are the critical minerals U.S. President Donald Trump wants from Ukraine?
LONDON – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he is still willing to sign a deal on developing critical minerals with the United States, despite last week’s explosive Oval Office meeting.
Zelenskiy rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s initial demand for $500 billion of mineral wealth from Ukraine in repayment for military support, but was expected to sign an agreement on Friday before Trump accused him of being ungrateful for U.S. aid, of showing disrespect to the United States and of risking World War Three.
Despite the fallout, Zelenskiy said he could still salvage his relationship with Washington and was still willing to sign the minerals deal.
Growing demand for minerals essential for clean energy technologies, such as electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines and semiconductors is fuelling global competition to secure supply.
China dominates the global supply chain of critical minerals, processing 90% of all rare earth metals and 60% of the world’s lithium.
Both the European Union and now the United States have highlighted Ukraine as a key partner for investment and securing a mineral supply.
What critical minerals does Ukraine have?
Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the EU as critical and has the continent’s largest reserves of titanium, used in wind turbines, fuel cells and batteries, and uranium, used in nuclear power.
According to the Ukrainian Geological Survey, Ukraine also has enough reserves of lithium and graphite needed to produce batteries for 20 million electric vehicles.
Ukraine is also a top producer of gallium and neon, and has reserves of rare earth metals such as neodymium, used in wind turbines and EV batteries; and erbium and yttrium, whose applications range from nuclear power to lasers.
Where else in Europe has critical minerals?
The EU imports the majority of the critical raw materials it consumes and has said it will never be self-sufficient in its supply.
In a bid to strengthen the sector and reduce reliance on Chinese imports, the EU adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act in 2024 with the aim of boosting domestic production.
Researchers have found Nordic countries have plentiful resources of critical minerals, including cobalt, graphite, rare earth metals, silicone and titanium.
Finland has significant nickel and cobalt deposits, meanwhile Norway is rich in graphite.
Portugal has some 60,000 metric tons of known lithium reserves and is the bloc’s biggest producer.
The EU has only 0.5% of global reserves of rare earth elements, which it does not produce domestically and is entirely dependent on Chinese imports.
Why is there a race for critical minerals?
Demand for critical minerals for use in clean energy technologies is expected to double by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.
It said supply was not guaranteed as export controls from mineral-rich countries and the concentration of resources in few countries increases the risk of future shortfalls.
While China dominates supply chains, natural resources are concentrated in Africa, Latin America and South Asia.
More than a dozen mineral-rich African countries, including Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria and Namibia, have introduced export controls, fuelled by the desire to bring more of the supply chain to the continent.
Meanwhile China has restricted exports on gallium, geranium and antimony and increased export controls on graphite.
Who owns Europe’s minerals?
The EU is aiming to source no more than 65% of a strategic raw material from a single third country and extract 10% from domestic reserves.
Currently, the EU’s ownership and investment in global resources is higher than its domestic supply.
For example, the EU has 4.4% of the world’s reserves of cobalt, but produces nearly double that amount – 8.5% – of the refined product.
Only two minerals have majority domestic production, with France producing 76% of the bloc’s needs for hafnium, used in nuclear reactors, and Spain producing 99% of strontium, used for magnets in electronics.
Portugal is expected to launch a tender this year for licenses to develop lithium, seeking to become a key supplier to the EU for green materials, while Australian company Infinity is developing a lithium mine and processing plant in Spain’s mineral-rich south.
Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB has discovered Europe’s largest rare earths deposit in the north of the country, although is yet to establish a mine.
In 2021, the EU and Ukraine signed a partnership on the supply of raw materials, focusing on developing regulatory frameworks and bolstering supply chains to develop Ukrainian mineral resources.
(Reporting by Beatrice Tridimas; Editing by Jack Graham and Jon Hemming)
