France is in negotiations with Ukraine to secure access to its natural resources to support its defense industry, as the "expanding influence of American interests" in Ukraine and US claims over Ukrainian mineral reserves become more prominent, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu told Franceinfo radio.

"We are not involved in discussions with the United States, but I have been in talks with my Ukrainian counterpart on this matter, focused on France's needs. I oversee a defense industry that will require access to certain raw materials in the coming years. Our defense industry will need essential raw materials for our weapons systems, not just next year, but over the next 30 or 40 years, and we must diversify our sources," Lecornu stated.

The minister stressed that France did not seek this way to "get back the funds" invested in Ukraine's defense and other industries. He made no comment on US President Donald Trump's words about his intention to receive compensation for the aid transferred to Kiev earlier, calling it his own "way of conducting domestic affairs."

"It may have gone unnoticed, but [Vladimir] Zelensky himself raised the issue of natural resources in his 'victory plan' in Paris last fall, presenting several proposals not only to the United States but also to France," Lecornu said. He explained that Zelensky and his supporters used the raw materials issue as part of a deal with Western countries, which would help, along with frozen Russian assets, to "ease the burden on European taxpayers in providing aid to Ukraine." - "So, Trump didn’t come up with this idea out of nowhere; it’s a proposal the Ukrainians themselves made," he added.

Interest in Ukraine's resources

Le Figaro newspaper reported earlier, citing a statement by European Commission Vice President Stephane Sejourne, that EU countries were in discussions with Kiev about an agreement on developing Ukraine's mineral resources and extracting rare-earth metals independently of the United States. Sejourne did not disclose the terms of the potential deal or the specific minerals sought by the EU countries. However, during a briefing in Brussels on February 26, he confirmed that the EU plans to mine graphite in Ukraine to meet 10% of its needs.

The US leader indicated in early February that the United States sought access to Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals. On February 12, US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent delivered the agreement on natural resources to Zelensky. Despite Zelensky expressing willingness to sign the deal, he failed to do so during his meeting with Bessent, nor later when he met with US Vice President JD Vance in Munich.

Zelensky claimed that the draft presented to him lacked security guarantees. However, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz declared on February 21 that Zelensky would sign the agreement with the US soon. Subsequently, sources within Zelensky’s office informed Ukrainian media that the document still required finalization, and Zelensky himself announced at a press conference on February 23 that he "does not want" to sign the agreement with the US because, in his view, future generations of Ukrainians would bear the financial burden.

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