Reuters: Zelenskiy says 'Let's do a deal', offering Trump mineral partnership, seeking security
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has offered the U.S. to make a partnership around supplying rare minerals, Reuters reports.
Zelenskiy showed a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals during an interview with Reuters on Friday.
U.S. president Donald Trump, whose administration is pressing for a rapid end to Ukraine's war with Russia, said on Monday he wanted Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort.
"If we are talking about a deal, then let's do a deal, we are only for it," Zelenskiy said, emphasising Ukraine's need for security guarantees from its allies as part of any settlement.
Ukraine floated the idea of opening its critical minerals to investment by allies last autumn, as it presented a "victory plan" that sought to put it in the strongest position for talks and force Moscow to the table.
Zelenskiy said less than 20% of Ukraine's mineral resources, including about half its rare earth deposits, were under Russian occupation.
"We need to stop Putin and protect what we have - a very rich Dnipro region, central Ukraine," he said.
He said Ukraine had Europe's largest reserves of titanium, essential for the aviation and space industry, and uranium, used for nuclear energy and weapons.
Many of the titanium deposits were marked in northwestern Ukraine, far from the fighting.
Zelenskiy emphasised that Kyiv was not proposing "giving away" its resources, but offering a mutually beneficial partnership to develop them jointly:
"The Americans helped the most, and therefore the Americans should earn the most. And they should have this priority, and they will. I would also like to talk about this with President Trump."