President Donald Trump said the US has the right to access Ukraine's rare earth mineral resources under an agreement, saying Washington can "take pretty much whatever we want."
In an interview with Real America's Voice that aired Friday, Trump said Ukraine has "very rich, very fertile soil in terms of rare earth (minerals)."
"We have a contract signed having to do with rare earth. We can go in there at any time we want to take pretty much whatever we want. That was a pretty good deal," he said.
The deal, signed last year in Washington, followed months of difficult negotiations and a heated Oval Office exchange between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump.
Under the agreement, Kyiv and Washington will establish an investment fund, which will be partially financed by revenues from Ukraine's natural resource extraction sector.
