Trump seeks groundbreaking rare earth metals deal with Ukraine
President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he seeks to negotiate an agreement with Ukraine, where Kyiv would provide the United States with rare earth metals used in electronics, in return for American aid. He noted that "great progress" has been made in resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
- We want to make a deal with Ukraine, where they secure what we are providing them, with their rare earth metals and other things – said Trump during a conversation with journalists in the Oval Office. Trump mentioned that "Ukraine is ready to do it."
According to AFP, Trump stated that "the USA wants some guarantees regarding the rare earth metals that are in Ukraine."
Rare earth metals, also known as rare earth elements, are a group of 17 chemical elements, which include scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium.
Trump also said that "significant progress has been made regarding Russia and Ukraine." He did not elaborate further on this point.
Earlier on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented that it is premature to discuss a potential four-party peace talks format proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He reiterated questions concerning the legitimacy of Zelensky's presidency.
The President of Ukraine, in an interview with the Associated Press published on Saturday, expressed support for four-party talks involving the United States, Ukraine, Russia, and the European Union. He added that it would be "very dangerous" if Washington and Moscow negotiated the end of the war in his country without Kyiv's participation.
His statement was in response to earlier comments by Donald Trump suggesting that Washington and Moscow were already in contact regarding Ukraine. Trump provided no additional details, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, as quoted by the Interfax agency on January 27, said that direct contacts between Moscow and the Trump administration have not yet commenced.
When asked on Monday about Volodymyr Zelensky's stance on the format of future talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists: - So far, no one has seriously discussed the possible configuration of participants in the negotiations.
- For now, we assume that the Ukrainian president does not have the authority to conduct such talks – he added.
Moscow has long claimed that the fact that Zelensky was not re-elected last year after his five-year term expired – due to the ongoing state of war – means he does not have the legal capacity to sign a peace agreement. Kyiv rejects this stance as an unfair tactic aimed at obstructing negotiations.
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have not yet spoken by phone since Trump's inauguration. Asked about this on Monday, Peskov indicated that contacts are "apparently" planned, but there is currently no new information on the matter.
Two Russian sources told Reuters that Russia views Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as potential venues for a summit between the two leaders.
