Ukraine wants to collaborate with partner countries on postwar projects worth billions of dollars not just in mining rare earth elements, but also in energy and construction sectors to help rebuild the country, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Wednesday.
Sybiha responded to comments by President Donald Trump who said Monday that he wanted to gain access to Ukraine’s valuable rare earth materials as a condition for continuing U.S. support for its war against Russia.
Ukrainian officials have said Russia wants to get its hands on Ukraine’s vast natural resources.
Kyiv intends to offer “guarantees of the presence of major businesses in Ukraine and the vested interests of our closest allies — the United States — in developing these (rare earth) deposits and ensuring their protection,” the foreign minister said.
But cooperation should not be limited to rare earth materials, Sybiha said in a news conference alongside visiting U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Ukraine has “huge potential” to become a guarantor of energy security in Europe by buying liquefied natural gas from the United States and storing it in its massive underground tanks for later distribution, he said.
Sybiha also said there was “joint interest” from Ukrainian and American businesses in the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine, estimated to cost more than $400 billion. “This will be one of the largest projects of this century and, accordingly, one of the largest opportunities for our allies."
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said in an interview broadcast Tuesday night that the war has killed 45,100 Ukrainian troops. The fighting also has injured close to 390,000 troops, he told Piers Morgan Uncensored on YouTube.
On Dec. 8, had said Ukraine had lost some 43,000 soldiers on the battlefield and 370,000 wounded.
Russia hasn't given its number of killed since September 2022, seven months after its all-out invasion.
If the U.S. stops sending vital military aid, that could also jeopardize European support, Zelenskyy said in the interview.
“Without a doubt, we cannot do without this kind of (Western) support,” he said.
Ukrainian forces are slowly losing ground, especially in eastern areas, where they are being pushed backward by their bigger foe.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Wednesday that Russian troops had captured the villages of Baranivka in the eastern Donetsk region and Novomlynsk in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Baranivka’s capture is part of Russia’s effort to envelop Pokrovsk, a key road and rail hub whose loss would compromise a wider area of defense, while the seizure of Novomlynsk is part of Russia’s onslaught toward Kupiansk, another important train junction.
Ukraine keeps hitting the Russian military’s rear areas and supply lines in an effort to disrupt the creeping advance.
Ukraine’s Army General staff claimed Wednesday that Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region of Russia overnight, setting it on fire.
According to the General Staff, the oil refinery and petroleum product manufacturing plant supplies gasoline and diesel to the Russian army.
The governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, claimed that fragments of a downed Ukrainian drone hit an oil tank at an oil depot in the village of Novominskaya early Wednesday, sparking a fire.
The fire was put out shortly after and there were no injuries, emergency officials said.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
24 Comments
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JJE
There are a few issues with the resource party plan:
A significant amount of the overall resources are located in the south-east region (including the rare earths, lithium etc). The region is under new management with a long-term ownership position.
The underground gas storage tanks mentioned have been a frequent target for missile strikes.
For this precise reason, any mining projects will face the same hurdles.
As for the quoted casualty figures of the UAF - pull the other one.
Interesting the beachhead on the west of the Oskil River now belatedly gets a mention.
Underworld
JJE
Not if there is a ceasefire and security guarantees.
JJE
Moscow won't accept a ceasefire unless it's on its terms. Especially now they have the decisive upper hand and considering how they have been double crossed on previous agreements. UAF are relatively close to cracking and the manpower drain is getting worse by the day.
Until that happens, Russian forces will chip away at the front in a systematic fashion, squeeze positions and scoop up key pieces of land, then repeat it, like a domino effect, until the inevitable collapse takes place. Read the advances mentioned at the second half of article. That's merely part of it.
Primusinter
Al Jazeera reports:
"Due to the growth of the Red market in Poland the waiting list for organ transplantation has decreased 8 times in the last three years". That's where the Ukrainian boys are going. The younger the boys the better. Naturally, no one takes them into account.
8 times, Carl! It's only in Poland
"The blood market in Ukraine is set up in such a way that hundreds of military personnel who could be saved after being wounded fall victim to black transplant specialists"
Al Jazeera
Underworld
JJEToday 07:36 am JST
The Russian economy is buckling and their oil refineries are getting hammered. This could well play out like Afghanistan 36 years ago.
JJE
Don't know where you're getting that, but a well-known financial/business outlet did a piece on Russian economy/finances last month. Amongst the findings was a graph of revenue for the central govt shooting upward to its highest point ever, with energy representing a minority and the smallest fraction comparatively. Apart from that, most observers are impressed with the resilience of the economy.
Do you know how many oil refineries Russia possesses? More than you've had hot dinners.
Comparing the CCCP and the Afghan intervention in central Asia from 4 decades ago to the RF and the Ukraine operation on its front doorstep is not a good comparison IMO. Not only are the styles of combat, combatants different, but also the ultimate end game: one is a backwater, the other represents an existential threat to national security as a staging ground for a hostile alliance threatening the border, the relevant invasion routes, not to mention key ports.
Underworld
Blacklabel
The left didn't go crazy at all. They were pleased that Trump will send arms to Ukraine.
Underworld
JJE
Interest rates and inflation is still sky high.
Doubt it. And many of them are on fire.
i.e. Russia
Primusinter
Moreover, there is a guess that Zelensky himself offered such a price for help in the war during their conversation back in September 2024.
Trump told Zelensky that Ukraine would be a "good place" for real estate projects -( Wall Street Journal).
The US president highlighted Odessa in the conversation the same September 2024.
Thus, it becomes clear that Trump has long had his eye on the Russian city of Odessa. On the city for which Russians have shed their blood not once. Does anyone else doubt that Crimea is somewhere in the plans of the American?
TaiwanIsNotChina
Trump has said he will supply arms if the unequal treaties are right. Since such treaties can be fixed by subsequent US administrations, I say go for it.
JJE
Well, guess Moscow should just cancel a crucial military operation because of interest rates and a bit of inflation (even though its more because of a slightly overheated economy). They should just run up the white flag, surrender their front yard to NATO, give them Crimea, abandon millions of decent people to a ghastly fate and hope that same hostile alliance won't turn their guns on the Russian Federation down the track.
Never. Moscow would be irresponsible to not crush that dangerous, provoked national security threat with the ongoing defensive limited ground operation, in which it can now press the advantage to a successful and positive conclusion.
Fos
Totally agreeing. Like the ruins of Iraq and Afghanistan, Ukraine was turned into a CIA theme park – run personally by CIA director John Brennan in Kiev, with dozens of "special units" from US secret agents setting up a "security structure".
As we all know Washington has masterminded the coup in February 2014 against the democratically elected government in Kiev. The Russians defended themselves, as they have done against every threat and invasion from the west for almost a century.
The only difference with Afghanistan is that Ukraine is selling off beforehand public assets in a privatization spree. US fossil fuel corporations like ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Halliburton are in talks to run its oil and gas industry which, once again explain the main reason of this war started by the US industrial military complex.
JJE
The problem is: Zelensky's regime doesn't control a large chunk of the resources (with some 50% of the good ones in the areas under Russian control already, including the bonanza untapped lithium deposits).
So, he is not really in a position to sell them off. Nor does he have the manpower to retake them. He really doesn't have that much to mortgage out, which is why he so readily accepted -always 'easy' to sell something you don't actually own. And one suspects Trump's team knows this as they prepare to pull the lever on the former down the track. They'll 'expose' gross corruption and turn the media on him. Pulling the plug on USAID has literally cutoff 90% of domestic new 'sources' there. That floater doesn't have much time either way before it is pulled by someone.
Underworld
Fos
This could well play out like Afghanistan 36 years ago.
I'm talking about Russia's war in Afghanistan.
Didn't happen.
No they didn't and there was no coup.
When? Nobody attacked Russia. What universe are you living in?
JJE
Why does the NYT say it did happen?
Burgerland
"The Russian economy is buckling and their oil refineries are getting hammered."
We've been told by the experts" for 3 years that Russian economy is going to collapse anytime now due to the mighty sanctions. Meanwhile 2024 Russian GDP growth rate was higher than either the US an EU , but yeah Russia will" collapse any time now".
Underworld
JJE
Not just the NYT. But the NYT did a deep dive investigation:
An investigation by The New York Times into the final hours of Mr. Yanukovych’s rule — based on interviews with prominent players, including former commanders of the Berkut riot police and other security units, telephone records and other documents — shows that the president was not so much overthrown as cast adrift by his own allies, and that Western officials were just as surprised by the meltdown as anyone else.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/world/europe/ukraine-leader-was-defeated-even-before-he-was-ousted.html?referrer&_r=3
Underworld
Burgerland
"The Russian economy is buckling and their oil refineries are getting hammered."
Ukraine’s central bank forecasts gdp to grow by 4% in 2024 and 4.3% in 2025. The currency is stable and interest rates, at 13.5%, remain near their lowest in 30 months.
Contrast that with Russia, where rates should soon hit 23% to arrest the rouble’s fall, banks look fragile and gdp is set to grow by just 0.5-1.5% in 2025.
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/12/18/ukraine-is-winning-the-economic-war-against-russia
JJE
Talking about the CIA bases - 14 of them - on Russia's border, that the NYT disclosed.
JJE
That right there is a provoked offense that warrants massive military action.
Burgerland
Violent Maidan event fits textbook definition of a coup. Definition easily verifiable by 30 second Google search. If it fits the definition of a coup, it was a coup.
"USAID Multi Billion-Dollar spending for Ukraine color revolution
Disguised as funding ‘civil society’ and ‘promoting democracy’, USAID was used to encourage and fuel civil unrest for US-backed regime change in Ukraine. Euromaidan ,directed by the US State Department through NGOs and private foundations. USAID, in collaboration with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), supported Ukrainian NGOs organizing protests against the halt of EU integration policies The US funneled $1.09 billion into ‘Ukraine projects’ immediately prior before the November 2014 events, with USAID contributing $373 million according to the US Government Accountability Office. US-backed NGOs supported anti-government media, such as Hromadske TV which received grants from the US embassy."
Underworld
JJE
Yeah, after Putin took Crimea, they came in to help the Ukrainians out. Yanukovych and his spy chiefs had fled to Russia leaving Ukraine's intelligence agency a pile of smoldering documents in the courtyard and wiped computers.
No, it isn't. Especially when, at the same time, you had Russian agents fomenting rebellions and starting the civil war in the Donbas.
Underworld
Burgerland
No they didn't and there was no coup.
Since when is a protest a coup?
Nope.
protest != coup.
You'll have to find evidence of a coup.
LOL
Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Especially from Russian propaganda outlets.
wallace
Russia should pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Israel and the US should pay for the reconstruction of Gaza.