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Trump seeks rare earth metals from Zelensky as payback for ‘close to $300bn’ in US aid
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Russia has voiced its opposition to Donald Trump’s demands that Ukraine pay for US support with rare minerals.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the remarks by Mr Trump suggested that Ukraine would no longer be given free aid – but he added that “it would be better of course for the assistance to not be provided at all”.
A day earlier, Mr Trump had said he was “looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earths and other things”.
Ukraine has one of the largest untapped resources of rare earth minerals, worth around £12 trillion.
It comes as A Russian missile strike damaged an apartment bloc and administrative buildings, killing five people and injuring at least 55 in the town of Izium in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, the regional governor said on Tuesday.
Russian forces hit the town’s central district using a ballistic missile, governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram citing preliminary information. Rescuers were working at the site and at least one person was trapped under the rubble, he added.
Posting footage of the aftermath of the strike, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote: “This brutality cannot be tolerated. Maximum pressure must be applied to Russia – through military force, sanctions, and diplomacy – to stop the terror and protect lives.”
Donald Trump has issued a demand to Ukraine in which Kyiv guarantees supplies of rare earth minerals to the US as payment for war aid. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has previously floated the idea as part of his plan to end with conflict with Russia. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday (3 February), Trump said: “We’re telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earths. “We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earths and other things.”
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said his team has already been in contact with Washington’s top Ukraine official Keith Kellogg and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and there were “working dates” for an American delegation to visit.
Commenting on US president Donald Trump’s interest in Ukrainian rare earth minerals, Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv that Ukraine was open to investment by American companies.
Belgium will continue to support Ukraine, new Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said on Tuesday as he delivered his policy statement to parliament.
His coalition government was sworn in on Monday, after almost eight months of negotiations.
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