The scene, recounted by a well-informed source, is one of rare symbolic violence. It speaks of the tipping point brought about by Donald Trump's return to the White House. Arriving in Kyiv by train, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 12. The guest came for a diktat, a short document in hand. Either his host would sign a draft agreement on Ukrainian strategic minerals – in other words, rare earths – on the spot, giving half back to the US, or, according to Bessent, Washington would put an end to the economic and military support for Ukraine that had been in place for three years.

These coveted rare earths abound in lithium for telephone batteries, uranium to power nuclear power plants, graphite for electric car batteries and titanium for the aerospace industry. And then there's oil and gas. The potential for exploiting these riches is highly theoretical at this stage, for reasons of safety and industrial capacity. But the White House is keenly interested, especially since Zelensky himself suggested joint exploitation in the autumn.

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