“I hope Trump will not deceive us: Ukrainians are concerned about the metal deal

The Ukrainian geologist was shopping in his local market for pork, ward, salmon and grapes when he heard the shouts of a man who looked drunk, complaining of President Voludmir Zellinski.

“Why didn’t you ask Zelesky before giving up our minerals for the Americans?” He shouted. A woman joined: “The Americans come to take everything.”

Geological shadow, Volodymyr savytskyi, 75 years old, calm. It is more hopeful in the potential mineral agreement that dominated the talks – and open tensions – between his country and the United States.

“We only need to survive,” said Mr. Savitsky. “I hope Trump will not deceive us. I really hope he will not do it. I think the Americans should come, invest their money here, and make their profit, but we must also get our fair share – a piece of pie.”

In the central Ukrainian region of Kirovohrad, one of the leading mining areas in the country, the reactions to the proposed deal is a mixture of cautious, bending and anger. After years of trying to resist Russian influence and consensus with the West, many people here see a reflection on the American investment in a positive way, and they are ready to use their natural resources to support the most important plight of the country and calm Russia.

However, there are signs of increasing doubts about the conditions and whether the United States, specifically the Trump administration, can be trusted. Some people support the deal because they see that Ukraine has no other choice.

The Ukrainian authorities say that the country holds deposits for more than 20 critical minerals; One consultant company You can deserve several trillion dollars.

The Trump administration seeks to obtain future profits from these minerals, which it calls to pay the military aid that the United States granted Ukraine since the invasion of Russia more than three years ago. On the other hand, the United States will continue, in theory, the support of Ukraine.

The deal took longer to reach the expected. An initial version collapsed in a The catastrophic White House meeting In late February. A new American proposal, announced in late March, more famous for the Ukrainians. Kyiv said that she would negotiate to improve the conditions before signing a deal.

Critics mocked a kind of blackmail. Some Ukrainians have said that it stolen resources from Ukraine effectively while providing any security guarantees for the country’s future.

“This is a profitable story for both sides, if this is done correctly,” said Andrei Prodsky, who founded Felta, the leading company at the Ukrainian titanium company that could benefit from a deal.

But he stressed that any agreement should be fair to both countries. He said that the deal should be a new Marshall plan, which helped rebuild Europe after World War II while allowing American companies to profit. Mr. Prodsky added that six potential American investors have already approached Velta, and they want to unify efforts.

However, the extraction of minerals here is not similar to going to ATMs: although Velta started operations in 2003, it took the matter until 2012 to start the production of titanium from the large elephantine deposits in Kirovorad. Metal deposits maps in Ukraine are due to Soviet times, not Puritablely reliableExperts say.

Environmental advocates hope that American investors will bring better cleaning and protection for miners, but there were no such guarantees.

Mr. Savytskyi, who smiles to his ears when he talks about minerals, is a tourist guide to everything below the surface here. He helped write a paper he was martyred in 2000. It is a 23 -year -old uranium mine, which has been working for 23 years, three miles away from his front door.

The date of uranium extraction here, which extends to more than 60 years, shows how difficult minerals exploit, even when there is a lot of attention.

In 1963, the Soviet geologists dug a well in the depleted river valley, near the city of Copvnitsky, to obtain water for a nearby factory. They found radiation. Basic samples showed high levels of uranium.

It was considered winning the grand prize. The Soviet Union was in the nuclear arms race with the United States. Mr. Savytskyi said that Moscow soon poured a “river of money” in the development of this first mine, and to complete work in only four years.

He arrived in the area in 1973 – a cold Nardi warrior, part of the Secret Geological Research Team – and began to work on what was seen as a richer uranium field under Cropsteke. If anyone asked what he was doing when he dug basic samples in the city center, Mr. Savitsky said he was looking for building materials.

It took 10 years to develop this deposit, which has become with the InTulska mine is part of the state’s mining and eastern treatment factory, and is now one of the largest uranium mining facilities in the world.

However, in 1986, the Chernobyl disaster, about 270 miles northwest – the largest nuclear accident in the history of the world – carried out the enthusiasm of the Ukrainian uranium. Mr. Savitsky’s research lost funding.

In 1996, five years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mr. Savytskyi began working in the Intuska mine. Over the years, he had its problems: the mine was not always profitable; Workers have not always been done. Mr. Savitsky said that for some time, favoritism and corruption were settlers. Workers often have health problems resulting from radiation exposure.

Liudmyla Shestakova, which works with non -profit environment Flora At Kropeyvnytskyi, which is now 220,000 cities, the New York Times took a tour of the Intuska mine to look at the remaining waste hills surrounding it.

This mild waste. When the wind blows or poured rain, the results are expected to the environment. The environmental rules in Ukraine left the West: asbestos has not been banned until 2017. The radon appears to be everywhere.

Immediately outside Kropyvnytskyi, people fill the wet wet jugs from a nearby spring that hunts the surface flow of the mine. (They also take a constitutional decline in cold water in that spring, even on February morning.)

Ms. Shestakova, 65, said that she generally believes that American investment may improve things, which reflects the solid goodness that Americans still have for Ukraine, even with current tensions.

And she said: “If the investment comes and was responsible with responsibility – not with reckless mining practices – we completely support it.”

But Mrs. Shestakova expressed concern that Mr. Trump’s latest suggestion is unilaterally. It is afraid that Ukraine will give up its natural resources without any guarantees of investments, environmental protection, or the country’s security.

She said, “It seems as if Ukraine does not get anything at all.”

In a cemetery bottom of uranium waste, Nadia Matsku, 65, visited the family of family members recently; Her husband, who worked under the ground, died as a mine worker, later due to diabetes. It was pragmatic on a deal with the Americans.

“If these minerals are lying down, our people did not extract, and there is no profit now, then if someone does that, and we get jobs and some percentage of profit, then let them do so.”

Marina Phoenic, 64, overwhelms herself every morning in the spring, which includes the surface flow of the mine. Mrs. Phoenic Amin Library. Her son on the front lines. She said she was constantly concerned about how the relationship with the United States has deteriorated.

“When we got strong support, everything was different,” she said, standing barefoot on the snow, wrapped in a towel. “There is a saying:” You can get this, but this will also take the shirt from your back. “This is how I see this agreement – as unavoidable prices, I do not understand politics, but this feeling is heavy.

Mr. Savytskyi, who is a friend of Mrs. Phoenic and believes that her daily declines may not be harmful, and still lives in the same apartment assigned by the Soviet Union about 40 years ago. Geological books such as “external uranium deposits” sit near his favorite chair, along with many minerals that he holds dear: the basic sample of granite, smoky quartz from inside the Inhulska, fluorite, ONYX, Gabbro, and Glaucophane Paldspar, all of the depth of twenties.

His head was full of minerals, but he was not unaware of war. A close missile blow to the power outage caused that morning. In 2022, he said that his family lived practically on the basement of the building due to the bombing.

“That is why I support this agreement,” he said. He added: “You understand that we are in war, and we must defend ourselves. We are ready to work with anyone who helps us.”