U.S. and Ukraine Clash Over Valuable Minerals Deal
Hey there! Have you ever wondered where the materials for your electronic gadgets come from? Well, some of them come from special minerals found deep underground. Recently, the United States and Ukraine were talking about a big deal involving these minerals.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were supposed to meet at the White House to sign an important agreement. This deal would have allowed the U.S. to access Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. Rare earth minerals are special kinds of rocks that are very important for making things like smartphones, electric cars, and batteries.
But guess what? The meeting was canceled after a heated argument between the two sides! 😲
The U.S. wanted Ukraine to give them access to these minerals as a kind of “payback” for the help the U.S. had given Ukraine in the past. In return, Ukraine wanted more support and strong promises of security from the U.S.
Did you know that Ukraine has about 5% of the world’s critical raw materials? That’s a lot! They have around 19 million tonnes of graphite, which is used to make batteries for electric cars. Electric cars are super cool because they help the environment by not using gasoline.
So, why is this a big deal? Well, countries need these minerals to make high-tech products. Without them, it’s harder to build things like smartphones and laptops. When countries disagree about who gets the minerals, it can cause big arguments.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens next. Maybe they’ll find a way to agree in the future. Stay tuned!
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
