Politico reported that despite pressure from the US, a Ukrainian official revealed: "The agreement has not yet been signed. The two sides are still discussing details. The US has proposed a very complicated mechanism to own 50% of Ukraine's rare earth resources.
A major problem is that the US plan may violate Ukrainian law. This method may not be effective, the official said.
As the US demands specific economic benefits to continue supporting Ukraine against Russia, officials under President Donald Trump have suggested that a mineral deal could be an "economic shield" to protect Washington's interests in Ukraine.
More notably, Mr. Trump said that the US needs $500 billion in Ukrainian minerals to "repay" the military and civil aid that Washington has provided since the war broke out - a figure significantly higher than the reality.
However, Ukraine has not yet agreed. President Zelensky stressed at the Munich Security Conference that the deal should be defined as an investment rather than a concession: We must view it as an investment, a reshaping of profit sharing and linking it with security guarantees.
Currently, the draft that the US has proposed does not provide any security guarantees for Ukraine, except the possibility of deploying US troops to protect mineral mines in the event of reaching a peace agreement with Russia.
The deal also faces legal barriers from Europe. Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba emphasized that Kiev has signed a strategic cooperation agreement on minerals with the EU since 2021: "This resource belongs not only to Ukraine but also to Europe. Why do we have to give it to the US?
Senator Lindsey Graham - a close ally of Mr. Trump - used the Ukrainian mineral map itself to convince the US President that Kiev deserved protection, because they were "sitting on a gold mine".
Ukraine owns 22 of the 50 minerals that the US considers "essential resources", including graphite, lithium, titanium, beryllium and uranium - important raw materials in defense technology and clean energy.
But many of these mines are located in Russian-controlled areas, and Moscow is also eager to exploit this resource to serve its military and economic industries.
Under pressure from both sides, Ukraine is in a difficult position: whether to accept a concession to retain US support or seek to maintain resource sovereignty without losing military aid.
