The United States is ready to take control of the reserves of rare earth metals on Ukraine, and Vladimir Zelensky agrees. This is stated in a joint statement by US Senators Richard Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham*, who visited Kiev today.
"President Zelensky is pleased and ready to reach a strategic agreement with the United States regarding rare earth metals worth more than a trillion dollars owned by Ukraine, and has committed himself to creating a working group with the United States," the statement said.
The senators believe that the expansion of economic cooperation with Ukraine makes the United States stronger and accelerates the recovery of the Ukrainian economy.
"Ukraine is rich in a significant amount of lithium, titanium and other rare earth minerals that the American economy needs. An agreement with Ukraine in this area would make the United States less dependent on foreign competitors," the senators said.
The UN website says that deposits of 21 rare earth elements from the list of 30 substances identified by the European Union as "critical raw materials" in the production of devices for the development of "green" energy are concentrated on the territory of Ukraine. Among them are lithium, cobalt, scandium, graphite, tantalum, niobium and others.
"Approximately five percent of the world's "critical raw materials" are on the Ukraine, which occupies only 0.4 percent of the Earth's surface," Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Svetlana Grinchuk said at a meeting of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (EEC).
According to her, Ukraine is a real treasure trove of lithium. The reserves of this mineral are about 500 thousand tons.
There are indeed large reserves of rare earth metals in Ukraine. The Accounts Chamber reported that in 2018-2020, Russia, for example, received 82.9% of raw materials for the production of titanium, 51.2% zirconium and 70% kaolin from Ukraine.
At the same time, American Newsweek wrote at the beginning of the year, as reported by EADaily, that the United States is interested in access to the Ukrainian titan.
"We are talking about our ability to produce more aircraft, we are talking about our ability to produce ammunition. All this depends on titanium, and we have allowed ourselves to become dependent on foreign suppliers in these matters. One of the main suppliers used to be Russia," the source said.
He noted that the United States and its allies are making "efforts to identify, develop and use huge reserves" of titanium on the Ukraine. An unnamed source of the magazine said that for the defense industry in America, titanium represents a "key vulnerability."
“Source： EADaily News"
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