There are many things Voldemort isn't getting right. This is something he is getting right.
A Mineral Deal Ukraine Can’t Refuse
The agreement gives the U.S. a stake in the country’s peaceful future.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ
Feb. 27, 2025 5:44 pm ET
Miners extract ilmenite, a key element used to produce titanium, at an open pit mine in the central region of Kirovohrad, Ukraine, Feb. 12. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/Associated Press
Volodymyr Zelensky visits the White House on Friday to nail down a mineral rights deal between the U.S. and Ukraine, and it’s an offer the Ukrainian President couldn’t refuse. But regardless of President Trump’s bullying demands, the deal gives the U.S. a stake in Ukraine’s future.
Ukraine is in many ways an underdeveloped country, and that includes its natural resources. The country has Europe’s largest supply of uranium, second-largest supply of natural gas, and substantial reserves of lithium and other rare-earth minerals. These resources are valued at about $1 trillion, and about a third are in Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine.
Mr. Trump wants a share of those resources as repayment for the aid the U.S. has provided Kyiv during the war. This is the transactional way Mr. Trump views the world and it smacks of reparations, but Mr. Zelensky had little choice other than to oblige if he wants to secure a credible “peace” with Russia. Mr. Zelensky was at least able to negotiate better terms than Mr. Trump first demanded.
Under the final deal, Ukraine will pay half of all revenue from developing these resources to an investment fund jointly owned with the U.S. The agreement says contributions will be invested “to promote the safety, security and prosperity of Ukraine.” The details will be worked out between the economic ministries, and Ukraine’s Parliament will have to ratify it.
The war has caused enormous destruction in Ukraine, which will need hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild. Foreign taxpayers can’t be expected to cover this cost, and Ukraine will need private investment. Other investors might be more inclined to help Ukraine rebuild if the U.S. is involved.
The deal won’t apply to resources that have already been developed and contribute to Ukraine’s budget. That’s important because Ukraine uses domestic revenue to fund its military, including soldier pay and weapons. Russia wants a peace deal that limits Ukraine’s military.
The mineral deal includes no U.S. security guarantees but says the U.S. “supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace.” It’s hard to know what that unspecific promise means, but in Mr. Trump’s mind it probably means Europeans help first.
Mr. Trump continues to peddle falsehoods about how much aid the U.S. and Europe have provided Ukraine. He claims the U.S. is “in for $350 billion” in Ukraine. But through December the real U.S. total was nearly $120 billion in military, financial and humanitarian support.
He says Europe has given much less than the U.S., but it has spent or promised $137 billion, according to Europe’s authoritative Kiel Institute. The U.S. has provided more arms because it has more, but Europe has provided more aid overall.
By the way, Mr. Trump on Thursday walked back his claim last week that Mr. Zelensky is a “dictator.” Press question: “Do you still think Zelensky is a dictator?”
Mr. Trump: “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that. Next question.”
That welcome, if head-spinning, reversal is more proof that what matters isn’t what Mr. Trump says but what he does. That is especially true as the war negotiations begin in earnest between the U.S. and Russia. French and British leaders traveled to Washington this week to lobby Mr. Trump to provide a U.S. backstop for any European troops that deploy to Ukraine after a deal is struck.
If the mineral deal makes Mr. Trump more inclined to provide that guarantee, so much the better for Ukraine, Europe and the U.S.
Comments