Ukraine is ready to conclude a large-scale agreement with the United States on the development of deposits of rare and rare earth metals, which will make the United States “less dependent on foreign rivals.” This was stated by US Senators Richard Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham following their trip to Kyiv.
The joint statement of the senators says that during the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “determined to reach a strategic agreement with the United States regarding Ukraine’s rare earth minerals worth more than $1 trillion.” To implement this idea, it is proposed to create a bilateral working group. According to the Ukrainian authorities, about 5% of the world’s reserves of critical rare and rare earth materials are concentrated in the country. In particular, according to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine, lithium reserves are estimated at 500 thousand tons. In addition, Ukraine has significant reserves of titanium, and the United States is its largest importer.
In addition, Ukraine has deposits of cobalt, scandium, graphite, tantalum, niobium and other rare and rare earth metals that are necessary for the US economy. Blumenthal and Graham do not hide the fact that expanding economic cooperation with Ukraine “will make America stronger and accelerate the recovery of the Ukrainian economy.” Currently, China dominates the production of the vast majority of metals needed to develop future technologies, such as electric vehicles and renewable energy sources. Bank of America named 22 metals that are critical for the energy transition. Among them are exchange-traded: aluminum, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, silver, platinum, steel, cobalt, lithium. The bank predicts that by 2030 there will be a deficit of most of them, with the exception of zinc, lead and steel. Cadmium, chromium, gallium, graphite, indium, iridium, manganese, molybdenum, tellurium, uranium, and rare earth elements are also required for the energy transition. In some areas, China’s share of the global market exceeds 50%.