France has been in talks with Ukraine since October 2024 about exploiting Ukrainian minerals for its defense industry, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on 27 February.
Speaking on France Info, Lecornu explained that France has been working on this issue for several months, since “last autumn” when Zelenskyy, during a visit to Paris, “included the question of raw materials in his victory plan.” According to the minister, the Ukrainian president made “a number of proposals not only to the United States, but also to France.”
“Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team saw that this question of raw materials could be one of the transactional elements with us, to create endurance. So President Trump didn’t completely invent it because the Ukrainians themselves did it,” Lecornu said.
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The minister confirmed these minerals will be used to produce military equipment.
“Our defense industry will need a number of completely key raw materials in our own weapons systems, not for next year, but for the next 30 or 40 years,” Lecornu estimated, adding that France wishes to “diversify” its imports of such minerals, saying, “This is what Emmanuel Macron asked me to do.”
Lecornu said he’s been in discussions with Ukrainians since “last October,” at the “French level.”
Ukraine holds about 5% of the world’s mineral resources, though not all are exploited or easily exploitable. It ranks 40th among mineral-producing nations, including coal, per the 2024 World Mining Data. A 2023 study by France’s Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM) identified over 100 resources, including manganese, uranium, and graphite – critical for electric batteries.
- Infographic: The Telegraph
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