As U.S.-Ukraine negotiations continue with both sides jockeying back and forth on a possible rare earth minerals deal, President Donald Trump said Sunday that Ukraine was trying to back out of the deal.
Aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters, “I think [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, by the way, he’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal, and if he does that, he’s got some problems, big, big problems.”
The deal was reportedly designed to benefit both countries, with a chance of the U.S. recouping some or all of the billions of dollars in military aid it has provided to Ukraine since Russia invaded the Eastern European nation in 2022.
“The American people have to have something in return,” Ben Habib, chair of the Great British Political Action Committee and former co-deputy leader of Reform UK, told FOX Business. “The U.S. is reasserting itself.”
Matt Miller, an equities analyst at CFRA Research, told FOX Business that rare earth elements are essential for advanced military equipment, including jet engines, guided missiles, electronic warfare equipment and radar systems. Until now, the U.S. has sourced the vast majority of its rare earths from China, which is an adversarial regime.
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A no-deal with Ukraine isn’t catastrophic for the U.S. Other countries have rich resources. Notably, Greenland has massive reserves of rare earths and other minerals. Some of those rare earths could be used in the production of defense equipment.
Other potential resources that could be extracted are oil and natural gas, uranium, graphite, and metals such as gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc. These minerals can be hard to access as the country is covered in ice.
The White House has said that having a presence in Greenland would help guard against encroachments or interference from adversaries such as China and Russia, but for now it seems neither Greenland nor its governing country, Denmark, seem interested in a U.S. takeover.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) wants to cut a deal with Trump. President Felix Tshisekedi sent Trump a letter asking for a partnership with the U.S. that would include a security pact and a minerals deal, according to the Wall Street Journal. The DRC, which is the largest producer of cobalt, has been at war with a Rwandan-backed rebel group. The two countries have been in on-and-off military conflict since the late 1990s.
“We want to extract these minerals but also process them, as this would create a lot of jobs,” Tshisekedi told Fox News’ Bret Baier, anchor and executive editor of “Special Report.” “And we want a partnership that will provide lasting peace and stability.”
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Production of rare earth minerals isn’t equal across the globe. Here are the top ones.
China
China extracts 70% of rare earths, making it by far the largest producer, according to data from Statista. That includes a near-monopoly of minerals used for making nuclear power plant rods and extra-strong alloys for aircraft engines.
US
The United States takes second place with 12% of rare earth output. Many rare earths are used in the production of the F-35 military jet, which is itself a key piece of America’s defense matériel.
Burma
Burma takes third place with 8% of output. The particular minerals are the so-called heavy rare earths used to make magnets, which are key parts of turbines and electric cars. However, that is likely disrupted due to the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that rocked the region on Friday.
Australia
Australia ranks fourth in rare earths production. It also produces almost half the world’s lithium, with four-fifths of that being used to make rechargeable batteries.
Others
Some minerals outside the rare earths category have also become vitally important across the globe. Here’s where three key materials come from and what they are used for.
The Democratic Republic of Congo produces almost three-fourths of the global output of cobalt. Its biggest use is in making batteries for electric cars. It also has lithium and industrial diamonds.
Indonesia is the top producer of nickel with a 20% global share of the market. The metal is overwhelmingly used for making stainless steel (65%) and batteries (15%.)
