(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, Andy Home, a columnist for Reuters.)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to meet with US President Donald Trump today to sign a critical minerals deal as a way of securing continued US backing in the war against Russia.
It initially started as a rare earths deal before someone realized that Ukraine doesn’t actually have too much in the way of these 17 esoteric metals.
The draft text on the proposed Reconstruction Investment Fund therefore simply refers to “deposits of minerals, hydrocarbons, oil and gas”.
Mortgaging Ukrainian security against its mineral wealth comes with a long-dated pay-back.
The clue is in the word “deposits”. Finding mineral deposits is the easy part. Mining them is more difficult. Processing them is more difficult still.
But the deal is a sign that after a century of oil politics we’re now…
