Ukraine is a “gold mine” with $12 trillion worth of critical minerals, US Senator Lindsey Graham insisted in a TV interview. He said the West “can’t afford to lose”, and called to prevent Russia and China from accessing strategic natural resources.
By Ben Norton
A prominent US lawmaker has referred to Ukraine as a “gold mine”, insisting the West must maintain access to the trillions of dollars worth of critical minerals located in the country.
“They’re sitting on $10 to $12 trillion of critical minerals in Ukraine”, said Senator Lindsey Graham.
“They could be the richest country in all of Europe. I don’t want to give that money and those assets to Putin to share with China”, he added.
The US senator made these comments in a June 10 interview on the CBS program “Face the Nation”.
Graham, a Republican, recalled that, when Donald Trump was president, he sent Ukraine military aid in the form of loans.
The senator strongly implied that Ukraine should pay the West for weapons shipments with its large mineral reserves.
“What did Trump do to get the weapons flowing? He created a loan system”, the Republican senator said.
“If we help Ukraine now, they can become the best business partner we ever dreamed of”, Graham continued. “That $10 to $12 trillion of critical mineral assets could be used by Ukraine and the West, not given to Putin and China”.
The US senator then argued that the West “can’t afford to lose” the war in Ukraine.
“This is a very big deal, how Ukraine ends. Let’s help them win a war we can’t afford to lose. Let’s find a solution to this war. But they’re sitting on a gold mine. To give Putin $10 or $12 trillion of critical minerals that he will share with China is ridiculous”, he repeated.
The Washington Post published a report in 2022 that referred to the war in Ukraine as “a battle for the nation’s mineral and energy wealth”.
“Ukraine harbors some of the world’s largest reserves of titanium and iron ore, fields of untapped lithium and massive deposits of coal. Collectively, they are worth tens of trillions of dollars”, wrote the leading US newspaper, which is the personal property of billionaire oligarch Jeff Bezos.
The Post added that Ukraine has “myriad other reserves, including stores of natural gas, oil and rare earth minerals — essential for certain high-tech components — that could hamper Western Europe’s search for alternatives to imports from Russia and China”.
The major media outlet referred to Ukraine as “a raw-material mother lode”, that is “home to 117 of the 120 most widely used minerals and metals, and a major source of fossil fuels”.
According to the Post, at least $12.4 trillion of natural resources are located in the eastern part of Ukraine, where most of the fighting has happened in the war.
Read more at: US senator says Ukraine is ‘gold mine’ with $12 trillion of minerals ‘we can’t afford to lose’ – Geopolitical Economy Report
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