gotchanewsdaily.com 
Trump announced Monday that he was “looking to do a deal with Ukraine” in which the U.S. would provide military aid for the war against Russian President Vladimir Putin in exchange for Ukraine’s “rare earths.”
“We’re investing hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earths, and I want security of the rare earths,” he said in Washington, adding that Ukraine is “willing to do it.”
Ukraine has strategic reserves of titanium, lithium, graphite and uranium, which is crucial for its future economic stability and potentially part of the calculus in balancing immediate aid with long-term sovereignty over its resources. Some of the critical minerals are in areas currently under occupation by Russia, which has been waging war on Ukraine since 2014 and launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
Ukraine has not yet commented on Trump’s proposal, but sharing resources with allies is part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan” for the war against Russia.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Trump’s suggestion, calling it “very egotistic, very self-centered,” and argued that Ukraine would need its natural resources to finance postwar rebuilding.
