Ukrainian President Voldy Meezelensky is scheduled to sign a contract with President Donald Trump on Friday.
Zelenskyy has already agreed to the reserve terms of the transaction. Trump aims to help US taxpayers recover from Ukraine during the war with Russia, which began a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
After signing the agreement, the parties will begin negotiations for the Reconstruction Investment Fund and decide how to allocate resources.
What are the known terms and conditions?
The agreement outlines proposals for the US and Ukraine to develop plans to utilize Ukraine’s rare earth and important mineral reserves as well as future revenues from its oil and gas sector.
A reconstruction investment fund will be created. Its aim is to use revenue generated from Ukraine’s natural resources to reinvest in Ukraine for reconstruction, further development projects, infrastructure and state-owned enterprises. Ukraine will donate 50% of its revenue from state-owned resources to the joint fund. It is unclear where the remaining 50% will come from and how much control the US will lead to the fund. The United States is committed to supporting Ukraine’s long-term economic stability and prosperity. The United States supports Ukraine’s efforts to ensure lasting peace, but does not provide direct security assurances.
How much assistance has the US sent to Ukraine?
President Trump previously used Ukrainian natural resources to compensate for US military aid and demanded $500 million in potential revenues, with the support Kiev received. Zelensky pushed back, claiming that there was far less actual US aid to Ukraine.
Since the war began, the US has donated 114 billion euros ($118 billion), according to the Kiel Institute for World Economic Research, which tracks military, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
However, the US Department of Defense has made numbers high at nearly $183 billion, including the cost of replenishing Ukrainian defense stocks.
What kind of minerals are there in Ukraine?
According to data from the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy, the country holds deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals classified as important by the EU.
Ukraine also holds reserves of rare earth elements (REE), a group of 17 metal minerals essential for high-tech applications in electronics, including lanthanum, cerium and neodymium, defense, aerospace and renewable energy.
According to the UN Russian news service, Ukraine’s important mineral reserves account for around 5% of global supply as of 2022.
Its important minerals include precious and nonferrous metals, ferroloys, titanium, zirconium, graphite and lithium.
Ukraine accounts for 7% of global titanium production.
Its lithium reserves are mostly undeveloped and are considered one of the largest in Europe with an estimated 500,000 tonnes.
Where are these minerals located?
Before the 2022 Russian invasion, Ukraine had registered 20,000 mineral sediments, 8,700 of which were proven, including 117 of 120 of the 120 most used worldwide, according to the Centre for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), a public policy think tank registered in Belgrade and New York.
The country has the world’s top recoverable reserves of coal, gas, iron, manganese, nickel, ore, titanium and uranium.
Most of these minerals range from Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporzhizia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kolovorad, Poltava and Kharkiv.
Russia, which controls about 20% of Ukraine, including the majority of Luhansk, Donetsk and Zapolizia, sits on about 40% of Ukraine’s metal resources, according to estimates that it will build a Ukrainian think tank and a national laboratory for strategic research.
Ukraine says a significant portion of its rare earth elements lies in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. One of Ukraine’s largest lithium deposits, Shevchenkofield, lithium ore, is located in a rural settlement in Donetsk.
How much wealth does Ukraine have from its natural resources?
According to Ukrainian Investment, the Ukrainian Government’s Investment Promotion Bureau, it has considerable natural wealth in mineral resources worth trillions of dollars.
The area with the largest wealth of natural resources is primarily located to the east of the country under Russian control.
Loss of access to these resources not only affected Ukraine’s economy, but disrupted global supply chains, particularly in the high-tech and defence sectors.
Despite the ongoing war, Ukrainian investment reports that the mining sector remains an important part of the economy, with continued production in safer regions and growing international interest in ensuring long-term investment opportunities.
Who owns the rarest mineral in the world?
Countries with the largest rare earth mineral reserves are ranked below based on estimated reserves, according to the US Geological Survey Mineral Products Overview 2025.
China – 44 million tonnes (MT; 1MT equals 1,000 kilograms). Also, about 70% of Brazil’s global rare earth mineral processing – India 21 million MT – Australia 6.9 million MT – Russia 5.7 million MT – 3.5 million MT Vietnam – 3.5 million MT US – 1.5 million MT Greenland – Tanzania – 5.5 million MT Tanzania – 890,000 MT South Africa – 860 MT Canada – 4,500 MT Thai Thailand
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