Politico: Extracting Ukraine's natural resources will require billions of dollars and take decades

Extracting Ukraine's natural resources under the deal the United States is insisting on will require billions of dollars in investments and could take decades, Politico reported.

The newspaper noted that the Ukrainian authorities' proposal to invest in natural resources has turned into a "political disaster" for them.

It's worth noting that the size of Ukraine's natural resources may be smaller than previously thought, and extracting them would cost billions of dollars and could take decades, falling short of the timelines envisioned by US President Donald Trump.

The newspaper wrote that Ukraine will need investments in its mining industry and industrial processing capabilities, in addition to rebuilding its power grids, and that all of this will require ending the conflict with Russia.

The newspaper recalled that the titanium mine investment project took seven years, while the lithium deposit investment project will require between 10 and 15 years.

It's worth noting that the United States offered Ukraine a draft agreement on joint investment in Ukrainian natural resources, but Ukraine rejected the initial version. Negotiations on the revised version of the agreement subsequently failed during Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Washington in late February, despite his announcement of readiness to sign it.

The United States later presented a new version of the agreement, which Ukraine deemed unacceptable. The latest version assumes near-total US control over all Ukrainian natural resources and bars Ukraine from joining the European Union, according to media leaks.