U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to have Ukraine supply the U.S. with rare earths as a condition for aid for the war-torn country.
"We're looking to do a deal with Ukraine, where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earths and other things," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Feb. 3.
"I want to have security of rare earths. We're putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earths. And I want security of the rare earths, and they're willing to do it," he added.
Trump did not specify what kind of materials Washington is seeking from Kyiv.
A source in the President's Office familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent that sharing Ukrainian resources with allies was part of President Volodymyr Zelensky's "victory plan" shown to foreign leaders, including Trump.
"But for this, (Ukrainian) security must be guaranteed so that the Russians do not occupy this Ukrainian land with minerals," the source told the Kyiv Independent.
Trump's remarks come amid uncertainty over the future of the U.S. aid to Ukraine.
Military assistance to Ukraine, which amounts to $65.9 billion since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, remains unaffected by the freeze, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed this during a press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu on Jan. 25.
However, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs in Ukraine have lost funding as a result of the steps taken by the new U.S. administration.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion, USAID has provided $2.6 billion in humanitarian aid, $5 billion in development assistance, and over $30 billion in direct budget support to Ukraine.
Ukraine's parliamentary humanitarian and information policy committee has begun consultations with European counterparts on temporarily replacing U.S. funding provided through USAID.
Olena Goncharova
