President Donald Trump announced this week that Ukraine's supply of rare earth metals to the U.S. could be the quid pro quo for continued American aid, against the backdrop of a potential ceasefire deal.

"The Americans import many metals for their industry from China, South America, parts of Europe such as Norway, and cobalt from Congo.

Nearly all the types of rock formations needed to supply rare earth metals, whose applications include electronics, as well as many other mineral resources, can be found in Ukraine.

"From sedimentary rocks to crystalline formations, from ancient rocks to younger ones," Soesoo put it.
"So when someone asks what Ukraine's main natural resource is, there isn't only one. Ukraine has practically everything which is currently traded and used on a day-to-day basis, from oil and gas to rare earth metals, and significant amounts of gold and silver."

"In between, there are all the other essential metals crucial for modern technologies," the professor enumerated.

Ukraine also has vast coal reserves, despite coal mining long having been a developed industry there, dating back as far as the Tsarist era.

In fact, the latter even "sealed" Ukraine's "fate," Soesoo noted, as the initial shadow war in Donbas from 2014 was partly motivated by seizing its active coal mines.

"Currently, about 60 to 70 percent of Ukraine's active coal mining sites are under Russian control," he added.

"There was also interest in iron ore. Ukraine is well known for its iron ore and coal," he continued.

Ukraine also has natural gas and oil reserves which are vast in European terms, even if dwarfed by Russia's.

"I'm quite surprised that Trump hasn't mentioned this yet—although he did touch on natural gas—because in addition to rare earth metals, American companies could also produce gas and oil in Ukraine," Soesoo went on.

"Looking at Ukraine's geological landscape, its oil and gas deposits stretch along its eastern border from north to south, with a small portion also found along the western border in the Carpathian region," he noted.

As for rare earth metals, a precise figure in terms of resources is unknown, Soesoo added.

"No one really knows how large Ukraine's rare earth metal resources are. There are around 20,000 mineral deposits that have been mapped and estimated for resource size. Rare earth metals are among the latest additions to that list. Despite what is said, the correct answer is that we still don't have precise figures."

Among other minerals, some of which are not present in abundance in the U.S., lithium and aluminum reserves to be found in Ukraine may also be of interest, Soesoo continued.

"If I had to list the resources of greatest interest beyond rare earth metals, I would certainly include lithium, titanium, and possibly manganese."

"Almost 100 percent of the aluminum used in the U.S. is imported.

95 percent of titanium and nearly 100 percent of graphite is also imported," he added, noting that Ukraine has significant reserves of the latter and vast experience in mining it, "producing around 5,000 to 10,000 tons per year," the professor added.

Rare earth metals are a group of 17 chemical elements found in the Earth's crust, including scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanide series (such as lanthanum, cerium, and neodymium).

They play key roles in the tech, energy, and defense sectors.

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed openness to a deal with Trump for rare earths in exchange for continued U.S. military aid, German Chancellor Scholz has hit out at the idea as "selfish."

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