On April 30, Ukraine and the United States signed an agreement on developing Ukraine’s natural resources, including rare earth minerals, that “provides mutually beneficial conditions for both countries.” The Ukrainian government will retain full ownership and control of extracting operations and resources, including state-owned companies. The agreement creates a fund to attract global investment into Ukraine, which will operate as an equal partnership between the United States and Ukraine. The fund will be invested in extraction projects as well as related infrastructure and processing, with investment exclusively in Ukraine. Ukraine is expected to contribute 50% of all future profits from government-owned natural resources into the fund. The United States will also contribute in the form of direct funds and equipment, including air defense systems and other military aid.
Only new critical mineral, oil, and gas licenses will finance the fund, and neither nation will tax the revenues and contributions. As such, the agreement does not include resources that are already a source of revenue for the Ukrainian state, making any profits under the deal dependent on the success of new investments. The agreement includes an expectation of technology transfer and development, as well as assistance from the United States to attract additional investment and technology. The agreement does not include provisions regarding any debt obligations to the United States; instead, the United States will work through the International Development Finance Corp. The agreement will be submitted to the Ukrainian Parliament for ratification.
Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the European Union as critical, including industrial and construction materials, ferroalloy, precious and non-ferrous metals, and some rare earth elements. It houses 117 of the 120 most widely used minerals and metals. According to the Ukrainian government, these resources represent trillions of dollars of untapped mineral wealth. Still, in reality, they could take years to develop as wars in Ukraine have scared away critical Western investment in the energy and mining sector. Much of Ukraine’s mineral wealth is undeveloped and, likely, undiscovered.
After three years of war, Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory. Most of Ukraine’s coal and 40% of its metal resources are located in the east and are, therefore, inaccessible. In January, according to Reuters, Ukraine closed its only coking coal mine outside the city of Pokrovsk, which Russia is trying to capture. Russia has occupied at least two Ukrainian lithium deposits during the war — one in Donetsk and another in the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast — but Ukraine still controls lithium deposits in the central Kirovohrad region.
The United States Is Dependent on Imports for Much of Its Minerals
One of the main drivers of the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal is the Trump administration’s focus on imports of critical minerals, many of which come from China, which dominates in their processing due to cheap coal power and lax environmental regulations. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, in 2024, imports comprised more than one-half of U.S. consumption for 46 nonfuel mineral commodities, and the United States was 100% net import reliant for 15 of those. Of the 50 mineral commodities identified in the “2022 Final List of Critical Minerals,” the United States was 100% net import reliant for 12, and an additional 28 critical mineral commodities had a net import reliance greater than 50% of consumption. Of those 50 critical materials, Ukraine has 22 deposits of them.
For example, China is the world’s largest producer of rare earths, which are used to make magnets found in electric vehicles, weaponry, and electronics. While the United States created the rare earths industry in World War II and U.S. military scientists developed the most widely used type of rare earth magnet, China has slowly grown to control the entire sector over the past 30 years. According to a 2025 report from the U.S. Geological Survey, the United States imported 70% of its total rare earth imports from China. The United States has only one rare earth mine and has no capability to process rare earth minerals, which is energy-intensive. China can do so with its extensive fleet of cheap power from coal plants. It is responsible for nearly 90% of the global processing of rare earth minerals.
According to Reuters, China has over 23 times the global reserves of rare earth minerals that the United States has in its known arsenal. The National Mining Association has estimated the value of America’s domestic mineral reserves at $6.2 trillion. Assuming U.S. mineral resources on federal lands were twice as abundant as mineral reserves, the value of U.S. mineral resources could be reasonably estimated at $12.4 trillion. These resources, however, are locked up by irrational regulatory and permitting policies. During the Biden administration, onerous regulations, withdrawals of leases, permitting delays, and other adverse actions resulted in little development of U.S. mineral resources and, therefore, little exploration into unknown areas. Mining often begets mining, meaning that the development of one project can often lead to further discoveries of nearby or similar mineral sources, and many minerals are developed in conjunction with other mineral developments. By blocking mines around the nation, the Biden administration may have also blocked additional undiscovered mineral finds.
While that will change under President Trump, it can take decades to develop these mines, making the United States subject to the whims of China, which has blocked the sale of “dual-use items” related to gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard minerals to the United States. China has also imposed export controls on seven medium and heavy rare earth minerals, which are essential to military and technological uses and are used to produce rare earth magnets, for which China controls 90% of the global market. It is drafting a regulatory framework for issuing export licenses and determining which companies will be denied access, which will likely include American military contractors. These actions are not the first time China has restricted exports to the United States and its allies. In 2010, China placed a two-month embargo on rare earth metal exports to Japan during a territorial dispute between the two nations.
Conclusion
The United States and Ukraine have reached an agreement on Ukraine’s mineral resources as a means to work together to ensure the development of a peaceful Ukraine. The agreement creates a fund to attract global investment into Ukraine, which will be operated as an equal partnership between the United States and Ukraine. While Russia has captured a sizeable chunk of Ukraine’s coal and metal resources, Ukraine still has resources in other parts of the country that U.S. companies can help develop and that can provide Ukraine with funds to reconstruct its infrastructure. Currently, the United States imports 70% of its rare earth minerals from China, which the Trump administration wants to change.
