The US government requests Ukraine to reject China's participation in the post-war rare earth market.

According to reports cited by multiple diplomatic sources of the Kyiv Post on Tuesday, the US government has recently made a clear requirement to Ukraine that it must ban China from participating in Ukraine's post-war rare earth market under any circumstances, especially those related to reconstruction. The report states that China is quietly paving the way for its entry into Ukraine's reconstruction plan after the end of the Russia-Ukraine war.

In the draft mineral agreement between the US and Ukraine several months ago, the Trump team had already mentioned this issue during talks, and reiterated this position last week.

The US Treasury Department issued a statement on June 4 stating that Treasury Secretary Bestante emphasized to First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Svirydenko of Ukraine that the US adheres to a principle: "Any entity that has funded or supported Russia's war machine shall not participate in Ukraine's reconstruction, including projects involving the Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund."

Although the statement did not specifically mention China, its intention was self-evident.

The US and Ukraine have recently reached a strategically significant agreement to evenly distribute the profits from Ukraine's future minerals, oil, and natural gas resources. This agreement established the "US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund," ensuring that Ukraine has "full control" over its minerals and infrastructure, with an estimated value of approximately $350 billion.

However, the US also obtained the "priority purchase right," allowing it to obtain resource supplies before other countries intervene. This move is seen as one of the strong incentives for Washington to continue providing military aid to Ukraine.

Ukraine holds about 5% of the world's rare earth resources, including strategic metals such as iron ore, titanium, and gallium, which are crucial for green energy technology. It also has up to 20,000 mineral resource sites covering 117 out of the 120 most commonly used metals globally.

Analysts believe that the US is highly vigilant about the possibility of China entering Ukraine's strategic projects through "excessively favorable conditions." Cecile Sorelle, a defense security researcher at the RAND Corporation, pointed out that considering China's near-monopoly over the global rare earth industry, the US's concerns about China's involvement in Ukraine's rare earth reconstruction are "reasonable and necessary."

When former US President Donald Trump went to great lengths to facilitate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Beijing also began private lobbying, emphasizing its advantages in infrastructure construction to assist Ukraine's reconstruction, provided a stable ceasefire agreement could be reached.

In March this year, China officially announced its intention to participate in Ukraine's post-war reconstruction. Shortly thereafter, Chinese Foreign Minister met with Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mykhailo in Munich Security Conference and signed a series of agricultural product trade and cooperation agreements.

Source: rfi

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1834597391206411/

Disclaimer: The article solely represents the views of the author.