Trump announced that "trillion yuan transaction" was awarded Ukraine rare earth,U.S. experts question the reserves' authenticity.
President Trump of the United States recently announced that he was about to sign a "trillion dollar deal" with President Zerensky of Ukraine, and stressed that this would make it easy for the United States to obtain rich rare earth deposits, while compensating for the military assistance provided to Ukraine in the past. However, experts and insiders within the US government have questioned this, pointing out that Ukraine's rare earth deposits may not even exist or be difficult to mine, casting a shadow over the actual value of this transaction.
CNN reported that the White House is expected to officially sign the agreement on Friday. Trump described it as a "historic transaction" that will enable the United States not only to recover its huge investment in Ukraine, but also to obtain key resources to promote the economic and industrial development of the United States. Trump said at the press conference: "We will dig, dig, dig, dig. The American taxpayer will now be compensated. We will get back hundreds of billions of dollars in aid. This will be a great deal!"
The core of this transaction is Ukraine's rare earth resources, but whether rare earths really exist is still unknown. According to data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Ukraine has no confirmed reserves of rare earth minerals and no related processing facilities. At present, the assessment of Ukraine's mineral resources mainly comes from Soviet era maps from decades ago, lacking modern survey data.
A former Biden administration official said, "Based on the information we have, the vast majority of mineral deposits are actually located in territories controlled by Russia. In addition, many mineral deposits are located in areas covered with landmines and unexploded ordnance, making them difficult to mine
Jack Conness, a senior analyst at Energy Innovation, said, "If we look at Ukraine from a global perspective, it's not that these resources don't exist, but that we know very little about its actual reserves
According to the draft agreement obtained by CNN, the document does not mention Trump's claim that "the United States will recover the aid provided to Ukraine". On the contrary, the main content of the agreement is to set up a "Reconstruction Investment Fund", which will be jointly managed by the United States and Ukraine, and the funds will be used to rebuild Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. This indicates that the funds invested by the United States may be more inclined towards long-term investments rather than directly recovering aid payments.
It is worth noting that the Ukrainian government originally hoped to exchange this transaction for a commitment from the United States to future security in order to prevent Russia from invading again. However, the Trump government clearly refused to provide military commitments, stressed that the United States would not send peacekeeping troops, and also opposed Ukraine's accession to NATO. This position has aroused controversy. Critics believe that Trump is tantamount to making concessions to Russia in advance, which has weakened Ukraine's long-term security.
An official familiar with the evaluation of US confidential intelligence said: "Many details of this transaction have not yet been finalized, but at present, there is a high degree of uncertainty about the actual interests of the United States. The value of Ukraine's rare earth minerals is far lower than the sky high valuation claimed by the Trump government."
Source: China Times News