US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States and Ukraine agreed to a draft Critical minerals A deal, according to the president, may be a value of about a trillion dollars. Many analysts view the proposed deal as an attempt by Kiev to win the support of the new American administration amid tensions in Washington’s communication to Moscow to end the Ukrainian war.

The apparent deal comes a week after Ukraine President Volodimir Zelinski rejected a previous draft. The Ukrainian leader had previously submitted his complaint against the disposal of the United States’ talks to Russia to end the Ukrainian war. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy described the agreement as a Ramwork economic dealHe said he has not yet received any security guarantees from the United States.

In recent days, it was the general rift between Trump and Zelinski EscalateWhich raises fears in Kiev and European capitals that may rush Trump through a deal with Moscow to end the war on Russia’s conditions.

This is what we know so far:

What do we know about the Ukrainian mineral deal?

Trump told correspondents at the Casablanca office on Tuesday that Zelinski wanted to visit Washington on Friday to sign “Very big deal.”

“I hear that it will come on Friday. Certainly, it’s okay if he wants it. He would like to sign it with me, and I understand that this is a big problem.”

Trump said that the deal could be worth a trillion dollars, and that American taxpayers would receive their money.

On Wednesday evening, Zelinski said that the agreement – which he said was an economic framework for cooperation with the United States – has not yet included any American security guarantees.

However, according to Reuters, the draft of the deal said that the United States wants to be Ukraine “free, sovereign and safe.” A previous deal was rejected by Zelenskyy last week because it lacks details about Ukraine security guarantees, according to media reports. The details of the deal project were not publicly shared.

On Monday, Zelinski said it was Ready to resign For peace, but she asked Kiev to be granted membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a way to ensure his country’s security. But Washington was called NATO’s “unrealistic” membership request.

“This is very important, because it is certain, according to the Ukrainians we were talking to throughout the week, this [deal] Charles Stratford from Al -Jazeera said:

“Looking at the harvest on up to 50 percent of Ukraine minerals and rare ground materials,” said Stratford, who was notified, adding that the timeline is inconceivable.

Rare land minerals It is a group of 17 heavy metals found in the Earth’s crust in the world. Some rare ground elements such as niudmium, lanthanom, serum, Prayodymium, YTTRIUM, Terbium and Europium are used in the manufacture of high -tech products such as computers, TV screens, mobile phones and camera lenses.

Why does Trump want Ukraine minerals?

The US President said he is looking for minerals from Kiev for billions of dollars from the aid provided by Washington in the past three years of the war against Russia.

Earlier this month, the White House correspondents told that he wanted an “equation” for nearly $ 375.8 billion that Washington sent Ukraine. He repeated this on Tuesday, saying: “We spend hundreds of billions of dollars on Russia and Ukraine to fight a war that had never happened.”

Trump’s estimates of aid sent to Kyiv contradict data from the United States government itself. The United States spent $ 183 billion to help Ukraine as of September 30, 2024, according to Ukraine’s purchase, a website established by the United States government to register aid sent to Ukraine.

Currently, the largest producer of rare ground minerals is China, as it extracted at least 60 percent of the world’s width and processing at least 90 percent of them with a close monopoly, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in 2024.

According to the American Geological Survey, the United States relied on China, Malaysia, Japan and Estonia by 80 percent of its rare Earth needs in 2024.

Since he took office on January 20, Trump Disputed customs duties Allies like Canada and China have the largest competition in Washington, global markets shake.

Pushing him to get a rare ground deal with KyIV is part of its agenda to make the United States the Big Tech Center. During his campaign, he also accused another ally, Taiwan, of stealing chips in the United States. He threatened to impose a tariff on Taiwan, the main source of computer chips. Amid the threats of customs tariffs, Taiwan pledged to increase investment in the United States.

Last month, Trump announced that the private sector will invest $ 500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure (AI) in the country. On Tuesday, Apple Inc announced that it would invest $ 500 billion amid pressure from Trump, who demanded companies to manufacture companies in the United States to create job opportunities for Americans. Apple devices are manufactured, including the best -selling books, mostly in China.

“It seems that Donald Trump has broken all rules in international politics by doing this, and many United States loses a soft power by being very transactions,” Theresa Fallon, Director of the Russian European Center, Asia, and a great colleague in Chicago, the Global Affairs Council, told Al -Jazeera .

“It is okay to be transactions,” Fallon said, but “this is just blackmail.”

What critical minerals have Ukraine?

Ukraine has 22 elements out of 34 articles that the European Union defines as “critical raw materials”, and the country’s reserves represent about five percent of global shares, Russian language service in United Nations news stated in 2022.

“About five per cent of all critical raw materials in the world in Ukraine, which occupies only 0.4 percent of the surface of the earth,” said Svitlana Greenchuk, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources in Ukraine. With a slightly more than 600,000 square meters (232,000 square meters), Ukraine is the largest country in Europe, according to the region, outside Russia.

According to a report conducted by the Ukrainian geological survey, Ukraine represents seven percent of the global production of Titanium. The report adds that the reserves discovered in Ukraine are 15 years of Titanium production worldwide. Ukraine also has graphite, nickel and cobalt reserves.

Ukraine said its rare ground minerals and other critical minerals, such as Tantalum, Niobium and Beryllium, are present in six locations throughout the country.

What did Zelinski say?

Ukraine President Zelinski confirmed on Wednesday that there is an agreement on the table, but he set it as a broader economic partnership initiative than just a metal deal.

He also stressed that Ukraine does not have, yet, any security guarantees against Russian aggression.

“I did not call the ministers to sign a relevant agreement because, in my view, it is not ready to protect our interest, our interest,” the Associated Press said at the Munich Security Conference on February 15.

Ukraine is calling for entry to NATO to ensure its security, as Moscow occupies large areas of Ukraine, including the Crimea, which it included in 2014.

Last week, Zelinski repeated his opposition to the deal whereby the United States sought to $ 500 billion in Ukraine’s natural wealth. He also asked about Trump’s assertion that Washington provided more than $ 350 billion to help Kiev.

“One cannot count up to $ 500 billion and says,” Give us $ 500 billion in minerals. “Zelinski said on February 19:” This is not a serious discussion. “

What was the European response?

French President Emmanuel Macron appears to have supported the rare land deal. “Macron admitted himself this plan, and he saw it as an important thing, which could lead to the beginnings of real peace negotiations,” said Strohord of the island.

Macron also supported Trump’s peace efforts, but he warned of a deal at the expense of Ukraine “surrendering”.

“This peace should be allowed to Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders,” said Macron after his meeting with Trump in Washington.

Macron was on a Diplomatic visit To Washington after Trump was excluded from Ukraine as well as European leaders from peace talks in Ukraine. NATO’s allies in Washington were supported by Trump’s offer to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Macron also organized two meetings as European leaders rushed to responses in the wake of Trump’s dramatic political transformation on Ukraine.

Europe has been divided into its response to Trump’s peace movement, as well as his demands that European countries guarantee Ukraine security. Trump believes that the United States picks up almost the entire tab to support Ukraine and wants Europe to occupy the driver’s seat.

Trump supported the idea that European countries that contribute to “a form of peacekeeping are acceptable to all”, although the Kremlin opposed any European power in Ukraine.

The United Kingdom and Sweden offered the deployment of forces in Ukraine as part of a future peace deal, but Germany, the largest economy in the eurozone, opposes this idea. During his meeting with Trump, Macron said that European countries “need to do more … to share the burden of security.”

European countries are also considering increasing their defensive spending – which Trump demanded.

Overflow -out German advisor Olaf Schulles criticized the pushing of Trump to the rare land deal as a “very selfish” and “self -centered”. Schulz has argued that Ukraine requires its natural resources to rebuild from the parents caused by the war.

Friedrich Mirz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who won the German elections on Sunday, criticized Trump’s attacks on Zelinski.

“after [President] He said, “It is clear that this government does not care much about the fate of Europe.” The call to German “independence” from the United States.