**Trump Eyes Ukraine’s Critical Minerals**
US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in buying weapons and aid from Ukraine in exchange for the country‘s rare earths and other valuable minerals. This comes as the global market for critical minerals is expected to double in the next five years, reaching $320 billion.
**What Does Ukraine Have?**
Ukraine is home to 20 of the world’s most critical minerals and metals, including titanium, used in aerospace and defense industries, and lithium, essential for electric vehicle batteries. The country also has rare earth elements like cerium, yttrium, lanthanum, and neodymium.
**$12 Trillion Worth of Reserves**
Ukraine’s critical materials deposits are estimated to be worth $12 trillion, which could help expand the global raw material market. However, the quantity and extent of these resources remain uncertain due to a lack of further exploration. Russia occupies large swaths of Ukraine’s resource-rich territory, taking 33% of rare earth sources.
**Other Valuable Resources**
Ukraine also has significant deposits of materials critical for the nuclear industry, such as zirconium, beryllium, and uranium. The country is the fifth-largest producer of gallium, used in semiconductors and LEDs, and supplies 90% of neon to the US chip industry.
**Russia’s Control**
Russia currently controls around $12 trillion worth of Ukraine’s critical materials reserves, including coal deposits (63%), oil (11%), and natural gas (20%). Moscow is eyeing up these resources to fuel its economy and has already stolen iron ore and coal from Ukraine.