In an interview with Fox News broadcast on September 9, President Donald Trump emphasized that the US invested about US $ 350 billion in Ukraine and continued support without receiving anything "stupid".
"I want to make sure our money is protected because we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars. Ukraine has extremely valuable lands with rare earth minerals, oil and gas and many other resources. ”
President Donald Trump revealed that he asked Kiev to transfer a rare amount of land equivalent to 500 billion USD, despite the possibility of Ukrainian territory could fall into Russia in the future, and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's administration "Basically agreed."
President Zelensky recently confirmed he was ready to reach an agreement on Lithium, Titanium and heavy metals of Ukraine. However, he emphasized that the West must first help Ukraine knock out the Russian army from areas rich in resources.
Before the conflict with Russia in 2022, Ukraine possesses the largest Titanium and Lithium reserves in Europe - two important materials for the defense industry and battery production. In addition, the country also owns rare earth metals such as Bernllium, Mangan, Gallium, Uranium, Zirconium and Nicken.
According to Forbes, about $ 7,000 billion of Ukrainian mineral value is located in Donbass, Donetsk and Lugansk - where independence in 2014 and officially merged Russia by 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin once stated that protecting the people of Donbass is one of the main reasons that Russia launched military campaigns in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also criticized the West, accusing NATO and the US only interested in Ukraine's resources, not the fate of this country.
“They only talk about the territory and resources they need. For us, it is not important to be territory, but human, ”said Lavrov Foreign Minister in October 2024.
With the request to reclaim $ 500 billion from Ukraine, President Donald Trump may be opening a new controversy: Is it true that the United States only treats Ukraine as a "resource mine"?
