WASHINGTON DC – US President Donald Trump’s administration has asked Ukraine for assurance that it will not allow China, under any circumstances, to enter its rare-earth market, in particular under the name of reconstruction after Russia’s war ends, Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent has learned from diplomatic sources.
White House officials suspect that China has been quietly laying the groundwork for its potential involvement in Ukraine after a possible ceasefire or a peace deal between the war-torn country and Beijing’s regional partner, Russia.
Trump’s team brought up the topic first at meetings with Ukrainian officials a few months ago as the two countries had been drafting their mineral deal – and it was reiterated as recently as last week, sources told Kyiv Post.
On June 4, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, during a meeting with Ukraine’s First Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko “underscored the US commitment to ensuring that no one who financed or supplied the Russian war machine should be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine, including participation in projects supported by Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund resources,” the Treasury Department said in a readout without naming China.
Speaking to Kyiv Post on Monday, a senior Trump administration official noted that China has been positioning itself as “neutral” in Russia’s war against Ukraine, while in fact, continuing its support to Moscow. However, since early this year, Beijing has notably undertaken a muted charm offensive toward Ukraine, the official claimed.
“China can’t have it both ways – that’s all we’re saying,” the official emphasized.
In March, China formally announced its intention to seek a role in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. The move came just weeks after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
The two countries signed a few agreements this spring, further expanding farm product trade and cooperation.
China and Ukraine have had a strategic partnership since 2011, with bilateral trade reaching $8 billion, growing 17 percent annually. Ukraine joined the Belt and Road Initiative in 2017 and maintained its growth in bilateral trade. But China’s engagement has been disrupted by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
As talks about the post-war arrangements have increased lately, with US President Donald Trump ostensibly pushing to end the war, Beijing has also been quietly pitching the idea that its vast infrastructure experience could aid post-war reconstruction, contingent on a stable ceasefire.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington think-tank, the material support from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for the Russian war effort gives it considerable influence over the outcome of the war in Ukraine.
“The PRC and Russian Federation today are close partners whose geopolitical ambitions are aligned in their strong opposition to the US-led global order,” the institute said in its latest reports released on Monday.
US officials suspect China has been quietly advocating for its involvement in two forms: participation in a Russian-approved peacekeeping mission and in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.
For political analysts such as Dr. Michael Cecire, a defense and security researcher at RAND, a nonprofit, non-partisan research organization, it is understandable that Washington would not want a geopolitical rival or adversary to become more involved in Ukraine’s reconstruction, and particularly around sensitive and strategic materials like rare earths.
“Given China’s increasing interest and growing investment profile in strategic projects in the Black Sea region, and its near global monopoly on rare earth minerals and other essential materials, the U.S. administration is likely alluding to Beijing,” Cecire told Kyiv Post.
He said China might offer artificially generous terms to expand its position in Ukraine and the region.
He concluded: “Even if the U.S. and Ukraine hadn’t signed the mineral deal several weeks ago, it would be understandable for Washington to seek those types of assurances, but it is particularly important in the context of that deal and the major role Ukraine could play as a regional power and provider of strategic materials to the region.”