On July 8 (Ankara time), according to Xinhua, US President Donald Trump said that Washington currently has "a part" in Ukraine after the two countries signed a mineral exploitation cooperation agreement, and assessed that this Eastern European country possesses the world's leading rare earth resources.
Speaking during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Mr. Trump spent a lot of time talking about the prospects of rebuilding Ukraine after the conflict.
According to the US leader, Ukraine still has great development potential if the recovery process is implemented effectively.
This country has enormous potential," Mr. Trump said.
The US President then mentioned the mineral deal between Washington and Kiev as evidence of the long-term interests that the US holds in Ukraine.
Currently we have a part in that country, because we have land there, but more importantly, we have minerals," Mr. Trump said.
He described the resource-rich regions of Ukraine as "the best land in the world for rare earths", while affirming that the US will exploit this advantage at the right time.
I look forward to taking advantage of that resource when the right time comes," he added.
The mineral cooperation agreement between the US and Ukraine was signed on April 30, 2025, after months of negotiations.
According to the announced content, the two sides established a bilateral investment fund to develop new mineral exploitation projects in Ukraine.
Within the framework of the agreement, Kiev is committed to contributing 50% of revenue from new rents and new mineral exploitation licenses in licensed areas after the agreement takes effect.
By September 17, 2025, the US had made its first contribution of 75 million USD to this fund.
However, right from its announcement, the agreement has faced many objections in Ukraine.
Many media outlets and Ukrainian parliamentarians believe that this document may cause Kiev to lose part of its economic sovereignty, while it does not include security commitments that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's government has repeatedly mentioned.
Some MPs also criticized the fact that two annexes related to the agreement were not submitted to Parliament before ratification proceeded.
However, on May 8, 2025, the Ukrainian Parliament still approved the agreement with the US.
In early 2026, Mr. Trump continued to affirm that the mineral deal would not only help the US recover all the money spent to support Ukraine but could also generate profits in the future.
