As Washington’s push to secure Ukraine’s mineral wealth intensifies, the latest tensions between Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky highlight a growing rift. The US president and his team are actively pressing Kiev to sign off on a deal that would grant America access to Ukraine’s rare-earth metals in exchange for continued military aid. But is such an agreement feasible? And how did Ukraine’s underground riches suddenly become a focal point in US-Ukrainian relations?
No peace without a price: The real story behind Trump’s Ukraine demandsThe US president’s ‘America first’ policy means Kiev will have to pay its own bills
BY Sergey Poletaev