The US President, Donald Trump, on Thursday said that he would sign a rare earth mineral deal with Ukraine “very shortly”, expressing optimism about a potential ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“Our country is doing very well. Things are — as you can see — doing quite well,” he said.
Trump announced that he had signed an executive order to boost the production of critical minerals in the United States.
“Moments ago, I signed an executive order to dramatically increase production of critical minerals and rare earths. It’s a big thing in this country. We’re also signing agreements in various locations to unlock rare earths and minerals, and lots of other things all over the world, but in particular, Ukraine,” President Trump added.
According to the World Economic Forum, while China may not have the largest reserves of rare earth minerals, it dominates the refining process, making it the world’s largest importer of critical minerals, which it processes and supplies globally.
The US, India, and Germany follow China as major importers, while the US, Chile, Switzerland, and Australia have recorded significant increases in exports of raw, semi-processed, or processed critical minerals.
Referring to his recent phone conversations with Russian President Putin on Tuesday and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on Wednesday, Trump expressed hope for an end to the ongoing conflict.
