The Trump administration is pushing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to hand over mineral rights worth hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. Zelensky said a deal is possible but he wants better terms. WSJ's James Marson explains why these minerals are so valuable and what this potential deal could mean for ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. Further Listening: - Trump 2.0: Shaking Up Europe - Ukraine's $30 Billion Problem Further Reading: - A Guide to U.S.-Russia Talks on Ending the War in Ukraine - Ukraine’s Zelensky Wants Better Terms on Minerals Deal Demanded by Trump Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Why is the Trump administration interested in Ukrainian minerals?
Earlier this month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant flew to Ukraine. He was there to meet with the country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And there was something specific Besant wanted to talk with Zelensky about.
Chapter 2: What was the U.S. proposal to Ukraine regarding mineral rights?
— And the account went like this. Besant pushed a piece of paper across the table, which was a deal. A deal for Ukraine to sign away to the U.S. rights to some of its mineral resources.
— That's our colleague James Marson, Ukraine bureau chief. This scene is based on a description from a U.S. Republican lawmaker who spoke with Zelensky a few days later. He demanded that Zelensky sign it.
Zelensky took a look and said he'd discuss it with his team. Besant then pushed it closer to Zelensky and said, you really need to sign this. He then said that people back in Washington would be upset if Zelensky didn't. Zelensky took the document and he didn't commit to signing it.
— The Trump administration was asking for the rights to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Ukrainian mineral deposits. It says the minerals would repay the U.S. for its military and financial aid to Ukraine during the war. And now, the mineral rights have become a major focus for the Trump administration as it pushes to end the war.
— What you see here is a microcosm of how Trump sees the world. We were giving this money to Ukraine for years. But Trump has come in and said, that's not how we're going to do things anymore. We need something back for that. We need something concrete back for that. For example, access to Ukrainian minerals.
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Ryan Knudsen. It's Monday, February 24th. Coming up on the show, why the Trump administration wants Ukraine's minerals, and what it could mean for peace talks.
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Today's the three-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Since the war began, Russia has killed tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians and raised dozens of cities. Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have also died.
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Chapter 3: How has Trump's foreign policy approach differed from previous administrations?
Trump's relationship with Ukraine has been more rocky. It was a phone call between Zelensky and Trump that led to Trump's first impeachment back in 2019. During the 2024 presidential race, Trump campaigned on ending the war.
Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine settled.
And he said he would do it fast.
And it will take me no longer than one day.
What we've seen since President Trump came to office is that the script has been flipped. We've seen an outreach to President Putin. Trump is engaging with Putin to try to reach a peace deal. And with Zelensky, instead of the support, which we've seen before, He has criticized him very, very heavily.
And he has demanded payback for the support that has been given so far and clearly conditioned any future support on some kind of payback from the Ukrainian side.
The way Trump has gone about trying to end the war is very different than the Biden administration. Mainly, Trump has been trying to do it by putting a lot more pressure on Ukraine. And about two weeks ago, things really ramped up. The first thing that happened was that Trump had a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first time a sitting U.S.
president spoke with Putin since the war. On the same day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told allies that Ukraine shouldn't expect to get all its territory back from Russia and that Ukraine should not be allowed to join NATO.
We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of Ukrainian minerals?
They came up with this idea of offering Ukraine's mineral wealth to President Trump and saying, look, we're grateful for the support that the U.S. has given us. We want to make sure that the U.S. is getting something back for that. And so we want to give the U.S., give U.S. companies access to these minerals as kind of a security and economic deal that will be good for both sides.
Ukraine's proposal didn't have specifics, and it's unclear how it evolved into Treasury Secretary Besant's offer. The thing is, many of these minerals haven't been mined yet, and an estimated 20 to 40% of them are in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. And even though Ukraine initially brought up the idea, Zelensky was still surprised when Besant pushed that piece of paper across the table.
We spoke with an aide to Zelensky who said, this level of deal, a multi-billion dollar deal, is the kind of thing that would be signed on the level of presidents. This is something that Zelensky would eventually sign with Trump. And I think that undoubtedly is one of Ukraine's goals.
If you sign a big deal that would be a security and economic deal that Ukraine wants, then you would do it with President Trump.
So how did Zelensky respond to Besant's offer?
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Chapter 5: How is the Trump administration's strategy affecting U.S.-Ukraine relations?
So the Ukrainians have said all along they are open to a deal. They're interested in a deal. They want to do a deal with the U.S. But they didn't like this initial proposal. They saw it as a demand for Ukrainian resources without the main thing that the Ukrainians are looking for, which is security guarantees. Zelensky said, this isn't a serious conversation. I can't sell our state.
So he saw it as a demand that he sell the wealth of his nation without what he needs most in return, which is security guarantees.
What it might take for Ukraine to agree is after the break. Despite Ukraine's reservations about a minerals deal with the U.S., deal talks intensified over the past few days. Still, there's a ways to go. At a press conference on Sunday, Zelensky said his country still needed better terms in order to move forward.
He repeated his earlier criticisms of what was on offer. He said any deal had to include security guarantees for Ukraine and that Trump's demands for payback for military and financial aid provided during the war far outstripped the $100 billion that the US had actually provided.
Zelensky also said that the current U.S. offer demanded ruinous financial contributions and said, quote, I don't want something that 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to pay back. U.S.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also discussed the deal on Fox on Sunday. Zelensky should come to the table because this economic partnership is an important thing for the future of his country, and we hope that he will very soon.
Russia has taken note of the minerals dispute and has started making references to it. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said recently that the minerals were a reason Russia should not withdraw from occupied parts of Ukraine.
My colleague Yaroslav Trofimov got hold of a document, some talking points that had been prepared by a Russian think tank for the Kremlin. And one of the talking points was the idea to tell the Americans, your companies will be welcome to develop rare mineral deposits in occupied Ukraine if you make a deal with us.
In other words, the Ukrainians aren't the only ones who have something to offer Trump when it comes to minerals. The U.S. has been such an important ally to Ukraine, so is it risky for Zelensky not to go along with this and to risk upsetting the Trump administration?
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