Breaking Down the U.S.-Ukraine Minerals Deal

U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have reached a bilateral agreement for the United States to jointly invest in Ukraine ’s critical minerals and other valuable resources.

This is the first agreement of its kind of kind for countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo .

Understanding the terms of the Ukraine deal and its likely efficacy has important implications for mineral security.

The Russia -Ukraine war, the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II , started 11 years ago .

As a result, Ukraine has been left with only about one-third of its prewar power capacity.

Mining companies are reluctant to make long-term investments due to the ongoing security risk in Ukraine .

Successful minerals diplomacy will necessitate the use of an arsenal of U.S. policy tools, tax credits, loan guarantees, and price support mechanisms, which are all tools that can be leveraged to make U.S. mineral projects more competitive against heavily subsidized Chinese competitors. Gracelin Baskaran is the director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies ( CSIS ) in Washington , D.C. Meredith Schwartz is a research associate for the Critical Minerals Security Program at CSIS ..