Estimated time of reading: ~ 4 minutes

The past few weeks saw a series of enormous developments in relation to the war in Ukraine. First, the talks started in Saudi Arabia with the participation of delegations from the foreign ministries of Russia and the United States, then the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the US president Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, which has been labelled as a “dictator” by the American leader. The European Union (and the United Kingdom), important actors in the last three years when it comes to supporting Ukraine, have clearly been sidelined by the White House, as Trump decided to explore any potential solution with the Kremlin without involving US partners in Europe.

Leaders and diplomats in the EU, as well as in London, found themselves totally unaware of the issues discussed in Saudi’s capital, Riyadh, and still today struggle to find a common position to be proactive in the so-called “peace talks” in Ukraine. If there will be no changes in such a dynamic, Europe could lose all the leverage it pursued in defining the future security platform on the continent. In this context, energy is a relevant feature: overall, since February 2022, the EU and Member States’ support of Ukraine’s energy sector amounted to at least €2 billion, according to the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jorgensen. Being left out at the decision table would be a huge blow for Europe and even worse for Ukraine. The former Soviet nation can count on a lot of programs and initiatives coming from both Brussels and the EU member states, such as the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, which covers repairs, as well as the supply of transformers and mobile gas turbines for power generation. Moreover, through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the bloc has also mobilised thousands of power generators and transformers, with the aim of generating power to meet the needs of 6.5 million people.

Then there is the issue related to the future use of Ukraine’s valuable natural resources, including the infamous rare earth minerals that in the last few weeks have been central in the political debate between Washington and Kyiv. The Ukrainian governments in the past already attempted to develop the national mineral deposits and energy reserves: in 2013 an oil and gas privatisation was launched, while more recently the authorities in Kyiv tried to attract investments for the development of its mineral resource extraction: just in 2021, a year before the Russian invasion, the European Union signed a strategic partnership with Ukraine to include “activities along the entire value chain of both primary and secondary critical raw materials and batteries.” Generally speaking, Ukraine’s soil is considered rich in minerals, with an estimated 20,000 mineral deposits and 116 types of minerals. Most of these deposits are still unexplored, with only 15 percent of all the deposits that have already been active before February 2022. The list of such resources includes materials that are considered fundamental for modern industries: according to recent estimates, Ukraine has the largest titanium reserves in Europe and about 7 percent of the world’s reserves. The country can also boast the largest lithium reserves in Europe and has confirmed deposits of beryllium, uranium and manganese. In addition, Ukraine’s soil contains large reserves of nonferrous metals, including copper, zinc, silver, lead, nickel, and cobalt, as well as one of the largest global reserves of graphite.

Written by: Francesco Marino