Volodymyr Zelensky is being treated to a masterclass in the art of hard dealmaking by Donald Trump as Washington seeks to extract vast mineral wealth from Ukraine – based on an idea first floated by the Ukrainian President himself.
Last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered Kyiv a deal as part of ongoing negotiations to secure Ukraine’s long-term security in the event of a ceasefire agreement with Russia.
According to a private draft of the proposal seen by The Telegraph, this would see the US take 50% of revenues received by Ukraine from the extraction of natural resources.
It would also grant the US 50% of the financial value of ‘all new licences issued to third parties’ for the future monetisation of these resources.
Bessent said such an ‘economic commitment’ would grant Ukraine a ‘long-term security shield’ provided by Washington – an idea that Zelensky first proposed as part of his ‘Victory Plan’ unveiled before Western allies and Ukraine’s parliament in October.
At that time, the Ukrainian President said Ukraine could sign an agreement with the US, EU and other unnamed allies that would allow for joint investments and use of Ukraine’s natural resources.
But upon reviewing the deal proposed last week by Bessent, Zelensky and his aides discovered that there were no concrete security guarantees outlined in the document.
Instead, it seemed more akin to the likes of an exploitative contract imposed on vanquished adversaries, not a mutually beneficial agreement between allies.
It came shortly after Trump suggested that Kyiv could begin to compensate the US for aid sent over the last three years with ‘like $500 billion worth’ of critical minerals.
European officials believe US president Donald Trump (pictured) is likely to withdraw troops from the Baltics
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a joint briefing with President of the European Investment Bank Nadia Calvino in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 10, 2025
Ukraine has some £12 trillion worth of natural resources, including many rare earth minerals vital for the manufacture of modern technology – though many are found in the industrial heartlands in the east, currently occupied by Russia.
Mining analysts and economists say Ukraine currently has no commercially operational rare earth mines.
Many companies slowed or ceased operations at the start of the war, and restarting industry in a war-torn country will present a mammoth challenge for any companies willing to take the risk.
Zelensky refused to sign the deal as offered last week, telling reporters over the weekend: ‘It was not in our interests today… not in the interests of sovereign Ukraine’.
Senior government sources told the Financial Times that the deal provided scant details of what this ‘long-term security shield’ would look like.
‘When we looked at the details there was nothing there [about future US security guarantees],’ one official said, while another told The Telegraph that a clause in the contract awarded the US ‘a lien on revenues’.
In other words, the official said, the contract meant ‘pay us first, and then feed your children’.
Zelensky told reporters later yesterday that any US-Ukraine economic treaty must see security guarantees ‘included at least somehow’, adding that his country was not just a ‘simple supplier of raw materials’.
But Trump is already pressuring Kyiv to hand over its natural resources, telling Fox News that Ukrainian officials had ‘essentially agreed’ to provide some $500 billion in mineral wealth.
‘(Ukraine) may make a deal. They may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday. But I want this money back.’
Trump has been clear that Ukraine must remunerate the US for the aid provided to support the war effort thus far. The US President has said the figure stands at $300 billion.
But the aid packages green-lit by Congress thus far across five appropriation bills total just $175 billion – of which around $70 billion was spent on domestic weapons production.
The prospect of extracting Ukraine’s natural resources has evidently been part of the Trump administration’s plan from the outset.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of the US President, embarked on a trip to Kyiv last autumn shortly before Zelensky unveiled is Victory Plan and suggested that Ukraine’s mineral reserves could be put up for sale.
Graham and other lawmakers at the time released a statement in which they positioned Ukraine as a potential economic partner of the US that could reduce America’s reliance on the likes of China for rare earth minerals.
An aerial view of an ilmenite open pit mine in a canyon in the central region of Kirovohrad, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025
This handout photograph taken by the Press service of the 24th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces shows Ukrainian servicemen of the 24th Mechanized Brigade firing a MRLS BM-21 ‘Grad’ towards Russian positions
‘Ukraine is blessed with significant lithium, titanium, and other rare earth minerals that are needed by the American economy.
‘Expanding economic cooperation with Ukraine makes America stronger and accelerates Ukraine’s economic recovery,’ the statement read.
‘An agreement with Ukraine in this area would make the US less dependent on foreign adversaries for rare earth minerals.’
Earlier this month, Zelensky also showed reporters the location of Ukraine’s mineral deposits, unfurling a map on a table in the heavily defended president’s office in Kyiv.
Around half of it looked to be on Russia’s side of the current frontlines, but large amounts of vital resources were found in central Ukraine.
‘If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it,’ Zelensky said two weeks ago, emphasising Ukraine’s need for security guarantees from its allies as part of any settlement.
But the contract offered by Bessent was ruthless, seeking to exploit Ukraine’s vast resources for little in return.
According to the private draft seen by the Telegraph, the contract not only covered mineral resources, but the ‘economic value associated with… oil and gas resources, ports, other infrastructure (as agreed)’, leaving it unclear what else might be encompassed.
‘This agreement shall be governed by New York law, without regard to conflict of laws principles,’ it stated, going on to say that ‘for all future licences, the US will have a right of first refusal for the purchase of exportable minerals’.
An analysis of the contract’s terms by the Telegraph concluded that, if the terms of the draft dated February 7, 2025 draft were accepted by Ukraine, Trump’s demands would amount to a higher share of Ukrainian GDP than reparations imposed on Germany following World War I.
