Trump rules out Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for rare earths

The bid to join the military bloc was what instigated Kiev’s conflict with Russia in the first place, the US president has said

Ukraine will not gain NATO membership by relinquishing its rare-earth minerals to the US, President Donald Trump has stated. He previously warned Vladimir Zelensky against attempting to renegotiate the Washington-proposed agreement.

The Trump administration has drafted an arrangement with Ukraine that reportedly grants the US extensive control over key sectors of the country’s economy, particularly mineral extraction and transportation infrastructure.

Speaking in the oval office on Tuesday, Trump commented on media reports about Zelensky’s alleged insistence that he would only sign the deal if it included support for Ukraine’s NATO aspirations.

“I heard that [Zelensky is] now saying: ‘Well I’ll only do that deal if we get into NATO’ or something to that effect. Well that was never – number one – discussed,” Trump said.

He further emphasized that Russia has opposed Ukraine’s NATO membership since before Vladimir Putin was first elected president in 2000, suggesting that “that’s probably the reason the war started, actually.”

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NATO chief confirms Ukraine membership out of the question

Zelensky incorporated a minerals proposal into his “victory plan” unveiled last year in anticipation of the US presidential election. Since taking office, the Trump administration has gone through multiple drafts of the agreement, none of which were finalized as Zelensky’s rapport with the US president frayed.

The latest proposal was leaked to the press last week. Critics described it as unprecedented and resembling a colonial protectorate treaty. On Friday, Trump warned that Zelensky would face “big, big problems” should he continue to “back out of the rare earth deal.”

Despite the narrow description Trump prefers for the arrangement, it is said to encompass a significant portion of Ukraine’s natural resources, including hydrocarbons, and would reportedly operate under American jurisdiction rather than as an international treaty. Trump claims it would enable the US to recoup taxpayer dollars spent supporting Ukraine against Russia.