US president invokes wartime powers to boost production of rare earths and other critical minerals.
United States President Donald Trump has said his administration will sign a rare earths deal with Ukraine “very shortly,” after invoking wartime powers to boost domestic production of critical minerals.
In an address at the White House on Thursday, Trump said his administration was forging agreements in “various locations” to gain access to rare earth minerals, which are used in the manufacturing of electronics, batteries and magnets, among other items.
“One of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine … They have tremendous value in rare earths, and we appreciate that,” Trump said.
Trump made the remarks shortly after signing an executive order directing federal agencies to identify mines and government-owned land that could be exploited to boost the production of critical minerals.
The order invokes powers contained in the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law that grants Washington sweeping authority to mobilise industrial resources in the service of national security.
The US and Ukraine had been due to sign a deal granting Washington access to Kyiv’s natural resources until a public bust-up between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month derailed the plan.
Zelenskyy said earlier this month that his government was “ready to sign” a rare earths deal despite the tense exchange with Trump at the White House, but he wanted the “Ukrainian position to be heard.”
Trump has pushed Kyiv to grant Washington access to its natural resources as part of his administration’s efforts to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy on Wednesday said Kyiv had agreed to a US proposal to pause attacks on energy infrastructure, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the plan.
In his remarks at the White House on Thursday, Trump said his administration’s efforts to reach a peace deal were going “pretty well”.
“So hopefully we can save thousands of people a week from dying. That’s what it is all about,” he said.
“They’re dying so unnecessarily.