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Ukraine's Rare Earth Minerals

Vocab level: C1
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Today we start in Ukraine,
where a deal allowing the U.S. access to Ukraine's rare earth and critical minerals
is on hold after a tense meeting unfolded in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday.
The meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
was meant to reset an already strained relationship between the two.
And there were high hopes that strengthening the alliance between the two countries would mean steps towards strengthening Ukraine's chances of ending their war with invading Russia.
Instead, this meeting was cut short after a heated conversation,
and a deal was left unsigned.
The bilateral agreement between the two countries would have been the first of its kind.
It's set up to have Ukraine and the United States jointly investing
in harnessing Ukraine's critical minerals and other valuable resources.
in part, to help rebuild the country after three years of Russia's full-scale invasion and war.
So, what are rare earth and critical minerals?
Our Anna Stewart quickly walks us through what these minerals are and why they're so important.
Rare earths are a group of 17 elements, which can be useful for electronics, clean energy technologies, and some weapon systems.
But Ukraine doesn't have globally significant deposits of rare earth minerals.
What Ukraine does have is a lot of other critical minerals.
So what are some of these good for?
Well, the US lists 50 minerals that are critical.
This includes titanium and zirconium, which is useful for aviation and the space industry, including for defense.
Graphite is a key component for EV batteries and nuclear reactors.
And lithium is needed for rechargeable batteries.
Now, beyond all this being very useful, the US also wants more rare earths and other critical minerals,
as it's an area China has been dominating for years.
According to the Ukrainian government, Ukraine has deposits of 22 out of 50 minerals deemed critical to the US.
It's unclear which of these minerals and how much of them are actually in this proposed deal.
Many of these resources are expensive to mine,
and some are currently in Russian-occupied areas.