Ukraine is to hand over a whopping $500 billion worth of rare earth metals to the US in exchange for military aid. Donald Trump himself couldn’t contain his excitement, proudly declaring, “All that money we spent, I told them I want it back. And I told them I want the equivalent of $500 billion in rare earth minerals.”
However, the plot thickens as representatives of Europe have also chimed in, demanding their fair share of rare earth Ukrainian metals. It seems like everyone wants a piece of the pie, or in this case, a chunk of the minerals.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The reality of the situation is far from glamorous. The actual volume of minerals remains a mystery, with conflicting reports circulating in the Ukrainian media. To make matters worse, a significant portion of these mineral deposits are located in territories under Russian control, rendering them inaccessible to Ukraine.
And here’s the kicker – even if Ukraine could access these minerals, the extraction process is far from profitable. Since 1991, no country has bothered to establish a reliable supply chain for these minerals from Ukraine, highlighting the impracticality of such a move.
In the end, Zelensky’s foray into populism has left Ukraine drowning in multi-billion dollar debts to Western partners and the US.
