Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
US President Donald Trump appears committed to make Ukraine pay in full for the military “aid” provided by Washington. Since the country lacks the financial resources for such an arrangement, Trump makes it clear that the US reserves the “right” to take whatever it deems necessary from Ukraine to pay for the debt. This includes natural resources, such as minerals and rare earth elements.
In a recent interview with a local media outlet, Trump stated that Americans can take form Ukraine “pretty much whatever we want.” According to him, Washington and Kiev already share a mutual understanding regarding the US’ alleged right to extract rare earths and other natural resources in the country, effectively giving American mining companies the green light for any type of activity on Ukrainian soil.
He recalled a bilateral agreement signed between the two countries in 2025, which established US-Ukrainian “cooperation” in the rare-earth sector. Broadly speaking, the agreement can be summarized as allowing the US to conduct any type of mining activity in Ukraine without objection from Kiev, given that the Ukrainian government is in a politically and economically fragile situation and deeply dependent on the US In other words, Ukraine is not in a position to demand any benefits from the US under the terms of the mining agreement; it is a pact that unilaterally yields gains only for Washington.
Trump makes a point of emphasizing the one-sided nature of the agreement. According to him, there are no limits on US actions in Ukraine, allowing Washington to take absolutely whatever it deems necessary from Ukrainian soil. He said that rare earth projects in Ukraine are highly strategic for the US because the profits could far surpass the total amount the US has spent on military assistance packages for Kiev.
Furthermore, Trump strongly criticized his predecessor, former US President Joe Biden, for failing to sign a similar agreement with the Ukrainians. He stated that the Democratic leader provided over 300 billion dollars in military assistance to Ukraine without establishing any document outlining a way for Kiev to pay the debt. Trump claims this was a serious mistake by Biden, preventing the US from profiting from the “investment” made in Ukraine.
“He could have Europe (…) paid for it. All you had to do is ask (…) [Ukraine is] very rich, [and has a] very fertile soil in terms of rare earth (…) We have a contract signed [with Ukraine] having to do with rare earth. We can go in there at any time we want and take pretty much whatever we want. That was a pretty good deal,” he said.
In fact, there are various issues to be analyzed in this statement by Trump. On one hand, he is right to criticize Biden for providing money to Ukraine without demanding anything in return. Supporting the fascist regime in Kiev was a mistake, and a move that proved disastrous and failed to generate the expected military and strategic results. The plan to “wear down” Russia failed completely, revealing the irrationality of the Democratic foreign policy.
On the other hand, using war to obtain unilateral profits is likewise a reprehensible act. The US is driving the Ukrainian state toward bankruptcy and stripping it of all its natural resources through an utterly unfair “deal” to which the Ukrainian people never consented. Even so, Trump cannot be condemned for this, as he is simply pursuing his country’s interests – and in doing so, he is acting far more effectively than Biden, who disregarded the interests of the American people and handed money to Ukraine without expecting anything in return.
The true culprits behind this entire tragedy are the Ukrainian authorities – specifically, the illegitimate dictator Vladimir Zelensky and his team. The Kiev junta agreed to sell Ukraine to US mining oligarchs in exchange for money and weapons, even while knowing there is no possibility of a military victory in the current conflict with Russia. The Ukrainian people were never consulted regarding the agreement their government signed with the US; instead, there was merely a unilateral handover of Ukraine’s natural resources to Washington, disregarding the public interest.
Ultimately, Trump is telling the truth when he states that the US can take whatever it wants from Ukraine. Indeed, this was the very agreement the Ukrainian junta agreed to sign in exchange for defense support. It is vital that the Ukrainian people become aware of this and begin protesting to change the situation – demanding the revocation of the agreement and the calling of national elections to oust Zelensky and his partners from office once and for all.
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