What is in the US-Ukraine minerals deal?

Trump’s plan to ‘earn back $350bn spent defending Ukraine’ uncertain following Oval Office shouting match

Ukraine does not produce any rare earths but does possess large deposits of minerals such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium and yttrium. Reuters

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were supposed to sign a landmark deal at the White House on Friday, but their Oval Office meeting went off the rails and the two parties did not sign the agreement, leaving its future uncertain.

If it does survive in its current form, the deal would form a key component in Mr Trump's plans to end the Russia-Ukraine war. He says an American business presence in the country would serve as a security guarantee against future Russian aggression after the fighting stops, and views rare earth minerals as a way to recoup the money the US has spent in providing support to Ukraine.

Here is a look at what is and is not in the US-Ukraine deal.

Mineral wealth

Mr Trump says the US needs rare earth minerals “very badly”. Access to rare earth minerals will be vital to future economic growth, as the elements are used in batteries, computers and many advanced technologies, including solar panels. Under the deal, Ukraine would contribute 50 per cent of “all revenues earned from the future monetisation of all relevant Ukrainian government-owned natural resource assets” to a reconstruction fund jointly owned and managed by the US and Ukraine.

The agreement does not specify how the funds would be spent or identify specific assets it covers, though it says they would include deposits of minerals, oil and natural gas as well as infrastructure such as gas terminals and ports. An initial version of the deal, which Mr Zelenskyy rejected, sought $500 billion for the US.

That is far more than the US has sent to Ukraine and would amount to an almost perpetual right to mine many of Ukraine's mineral assets. Mr Trump has falsely claimed the US has spent up to $350 billion in Ukraine. In reality, Congress has approved a total of $175 billion for Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

“American taxpayers will now effectively be reimbursed for the money and hundreds of billions of dollars poured into helping Ukraine defend itself, which, by and of itself, is a very worthy thing to do,” Mr Trump said on Thursday. Ukraine does not currently produce any rare earths, but, according to Ukraine's Institute of Geology, it possesses large deposits of such minerals, including lanthanum, cerium, neodymium and yttrium.

Security guarantees

While the agreement would open up Ukraine's vast mineral wealth to the US, it does not include explicit American security guarantees for Ukraine. Furthermore, the terms of the deal are broad and further negotiations will be needed to pin down details.

Mr Trump says the presence of Americans doing business in Ukraine would serve as its own form of security guarantee. Speaking at the White House on Friday, Mr Zelenskyy said the deal is the “first step to real security guarantees for Ukraine, our children".

“I really count on it. And of course we call that America will not stop support,” he added.

President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday. Reuters