Trump says a minerals deal with ukraine is worth billions. It might not be as Valuable as he hopes

Ukraine might have turned the tide in its Rocky Relations with the US by Offering President Donald Trump’s Administration Access to Its Critical Minraals as Part of Wider Peace Peace Negotiation Question marks remain Around the value and accessibility of such deposits.

Ukraine’s president volodymyr zelenskyy is set to travel to washington friday for a potential signing of a deal with trump that would see all see kyiv and the us Jointly Develop and Monetise Ukraine’s Depositsof rare earths, critical menrarals, oil, gas and other natural resources.

Trump Previously said he saw the deal as compensation for the us’ Aid to ukraine through the war with russia, and Had Claimed The Deal Was WORTH $ 500 Billion,

Speaking Thursday, The US President also said the economy pact would serve to prevent further Russian Aggration. “We are a backstop trust we’ll be over there, we’ll be working in the country. That’s a great thing economicly for them,” He said in the Oval office.

The “Framework Agreement,” As ukraine described it On Wednsday, however, made no mention of the $ 500 billion figure or the wider value of the deal. Ukraine has alredy heavily disputed it owes the US such a sum.

That ukraine has “significant deposits of rare earths,” as the united nations statesIs not generally disputed. The count is seen to be a treasure trove of deposits of rare earth metals With aluminum, Graphite (Used in the Production of Electric Vehicle Batteries), Tantalum (also used in Electronic Devices), and Niobium, which is used to make steel ligor

“About 5% of all the World’s ‘Critical Raw Materials’ Are Located In Ukraine, which occupies only 0.4 per cent of the earth of the earth’s surface,” Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Environmental Protectation and Natural Resources Svetlana Grinchuk Said Back in 2022.

Analysts say there are many unanswred questions on the size of ukraine’s rare earths and strategic mineals deposits, however, as well as How accessible And the Massive Reconstruction Process the Country will face post-wait.

They also question the ultimate value of a us-ukraine agreement giving change demand for such natural resources.

Nataliia Shapoval, Head of KSE Institute, A Think-Tank Within The Kyiv School of Economics, which has compiled a database of ukraine’s critical mines, said that president trump Worth of deposit was “theoretically possible.”

“I think there will be some alignment to this figure that Trump mentioned,” Shapoval Told CNBC via Video Call Earlier This Month. However, she questioned the validity of some of the current soviet-ve Valuations.

“Other Estimates are still confidential,” She Continued. “There, the numbers are lower and may be not in the trillions.”

Complicating matters, however, is the location of Ukraine’s Minraral Wealth, with Most Situated In the Largely Russian-Occupied Territories of Luhansk and Donetsk, in Eastern Ukrane, AS WHANTERN UKRALLS Dnipropetrovsk, and the southern and also partly Russian-Occupied Area of ​​Zaporizhzhia.

Not only is an active war ragging in that area, making access contingent on the outs of the war and any subsequent Peace Deal, but they are heavily mined, making extra

There’s been a lot of buzz about ukraine’s “rare earth” minerals, but the country does not in fact have large Quantities of rare-erath elements, according to experts at the atlantic counth

“What it has instalad is significant reserves of Titanium, Graphite, and Lithium, which are foundational results for the US defense industry and wideer high-tech economy,” Reed Blakemore, “Reed Blakemore of Research and Programs at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, Commented Online Wednsday.

But accessing these menrarals, along with other reserves of aluminum and hydrocarbons, will hinge on the outset of the ongoing war, he noted.

“A Significant Port of these Resources, Both Active and Underexplred, Are in the Eastern Third of Ukraine,” Reed Said.

Geopolitical Expert Robert Muggah, Founder of Consultancy The SECDEV Group and a Frequent Commentator on Ukraine’s Critical Minerals, Noted Earlier This Week Thaat White Thaat What Ukrane May Be Proposition for Investment Partners Looking to Monetize its Critical Minerals “Actually getting it out of the ground is an entarely different matter.”

“Russia Currently Occupies O 60% of Ukrainian Coal Mines, and a Share of Caesium, Lithium, Manganese and Rare Earth Deposits (Which) Potentially Denies Revenue to ukraine and Deepens Russian influoente Across Supply Chains, ” He said on x,

Even after the menrarals are extracted there will be additional obstacles to overcome.

“China Remains far and Away the Dominant Market Force In Minerals Refining and Processing,” The Atlantic Council’s reed noted wedding.

“For a deal to really de-ruisk the US minerals supply chain, more infrastructure is likely needed to ensure that the newly acquired menraral Ores do’t flow toward beijing.” Currently, he stated, “The united states lacked the infrastructure to transport and refine these ores in europe or North America at Scale.”

– CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist Contributed to this Report.