American President Donald Trump announced a deal to provide the United States with access to Ukraine's mineral resources in exchange for weapons.

"They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas, and other things. I want to have our money secured because we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars," Trump said.

The "rare earth" elements Trump referred to are 17 specific elements (abbreviated as REE), such as scandium. Ukraine has these resources, but there are many nuances regarding quality, location, and the economics of extraction.

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Donald Trumprare earth elementsmineralsrare earth metals