— Of course, the Russians did not take 20% of our mineral resources, only less. Much less. Nevertheless, these are inactive hundreds of billions of dollars worth of resources,” said Zelenski.
He stressed that the remaining resources of natural materials in Ukraine require urgent protection. “We must halt Putin and defend what we have — a very mineral-rich Djepropetrovsk region. Very many natural materials are located in central and western Ukraine. Unfortunately, we lost coal, but I know that the Russians besides suffered large losses due to the fact that they did not know what to do with the mines and many of them flooded,” the Ukrainian chief of state reported.
Zelenski's Appeal to Trump
The president noted that Vladimir Putin not only takes over mineral resources along with Ukrainian territory, but besides plans to make them available to his allies specified as North Korea and Iran.
— I think Donald Trump can tell Putin: “Look, you just took a trillion dollars, that's not how it works. You must give back what belongs to another country," said Zelenski.
As he noted, Kiev does not propose to "distribute" its resources, but offers them on a mutually beneficial partnership basis. “The Americans have helped us the most and should so make the most,” said the Ukrainian leader.
Donald Trump wants a “guarantee”
U.S. president Donald Trump suggested on February 3 that he demands Ukraine to safe access to uncommon earth metals in Ukraine in exchange for further military assistance to Kiev. “We say Ukraine has very valuable uncommon earth metals. We want them to pawn it as a guarantee. We want a warrant due to the fact that we give them money in handfuls,” said Trump.
As Reuters recalled, Zelenski had already talked to Trump in the fall of 2024 about making available to Ukrainian uncommon earth metallic deposits crucial for the production of highly efficient magnets, electrical motors and consumer electronics, in exchange for safety guarantees.
The president of Ukraine told Reuters that Ukraine has the largest titanium reserves in Europe, essential for the aviation and space industry, and uranium, utilized to produce atomic energy.
