Trump says the U.S. has received a “share” of land in Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump said that after signing the minerals agreement, the United States received a “small share” in Ukraine.

He made the statement at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, which was broadcast by Reuters.

“Now we have a small share in this country, because we have land there, but we also have minerals,” the American president said.

According to Trump, Ukraine has “enormous potential” and some of the world’s largest reserves of rare earth metals.

“This is one of the richest territories. This is one of the best lands in the world in terms of rare earth metals. And we have a portion of those rare earth metals. I expect to take advantage of that at the right time,” Trump said.

The idea of granting the U.S. access to Ukrainian natural resources was included by Zelensky in his “victory plan,” presented in the autumn of 2024. The document envisaged the joint development of critically important minerals, including lithium, titanium, graphite, and other strategic resources.

In February 2025, Trump proposed exchanging further U.S. assistance to Ukraine for access to its rare earth metals. At the time, he said Kyiv was ready for such a deal and that the U.S. was interested in securing supplies of critical minerals.

After several months of negotiations, the U.S. and Ukraine signed an agreement on April 30 to establish a joint Investment Recovery Fund. The document provides that the U.S. gains access to the development of new mineral, oil, and gas deposits, while Ukraine will direct 50% of revenues from new natural resource extraction projects into the fund. Ownership of the subsoil and control over its development remain with Ukraine.

In late 2025, Ukrainian authorities began declassifying data on reserves of most critical minerals. Kyiv explained this as necessary to attract investment and implement the agreement with the U.S.