Ukraine Loses Major Lithium Deposit to Russia to Trump’s Great Disappointment
The Armed Forces of Russia have taken control of a lithium deposit in the settlement of Shevchenko in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), considered one of the most promising in the world. This was reported by the French newspaper Le Figaro.
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Dnn87,
Lithium
“The Russians are getting their hands on one of Ukraine’s most promising lithium deposits,” the article notes.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced the capture of Shevchenko on Thursday, June 26. According to the ministry, the settlement was secured by the “Vostok” group of forces.
What the village of Shevchenko is known for
As Le Figaro points out, lithium – sometimes referred to as “white gold” – is used in the production of batteries, nuclear reactors, lasers, and advanced weapons systems. Its extraction is therefore critical for strategically important sectors of the global economy.
The Shevchenko deposit was discovered back in 1982 but has never been developed.
In Ukraine’s former borders, there were three other known lithium sites:
- Dobroye and Porokhovskoye in the Kirovohrad region,
- and Krutaya Balka in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Russia now controls half of them.
In early 2022, Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences estimated that the country might contain up to 500,000 tons of lithium. Developing these reserves could have turned Ukraine into Europe’s leading lithium producer, surpassing Portugal.
Despite no prior development at the Shevchenko site, it is regarded as the most promising due to the technical aspects of metal extraction.
Lithium is found in several ores, including petalite and spodumene. However, extracting lithium from petalite is expensive and technologically complex, making it less economically viable. Spodumene, on the other hand, is easier to process – and it makes up 90% of the Shevchenko deposit.
“Why build a petalite processing plant costing hundreds of millions of dollars when there are far more efficient spodumene projects?” Le Figaro writes.
The settlement also holds reserves of other valuable metals such as tantalum, niobium, beryllium, cesium, rubidium, and tin.
Russia obtains new bargaining chip in negotiations
According to Le Figaro, Russia’s capture of the strategically important settlement with lithium reserves shifts the balance in negotiations with the United States over Ukraine. Notably, U.S. President Donald Trump has emphasized the importance of access to rare earth metals as a requirement in discussions with the Ukrainian side.
The loss of one of the most promising deposits could deal a serious blow to the U.S. position.
“By capturing the Shevchenko deposit, Russia strengthens its control over resource extraction – a topic to which Trump is especially sensitive,” the paper adds.
The article also notes that Shevchenko is located just three kilometers from the DPR’s border with the Dnipropetrovsk region, where Russian forces have also advanced. Thus, the capture of Shevchenko holds not only geopolitical but also symbolic value, reflecting the difficult situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In June, the average daily territorial gain by Russian forces rose from 15 to 23 square kilometers, according to French cartographer “Poulet volant.”
U.S. may lose interest in Ukraine
As a result, the United States might lose interest in continuing aid to Ukraine and could even consider cooperation with Russia on mineral extraction. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed such a possibility on February 25, offering the U.S. participation in projects.
“We are ready to involve foreign partners in what we call our new, historical territories,” Putin said.
The New York Times also noted this challenge for the U.S.-Ukraine resource deal: the further Russia advances, the fewer resources Ukraine has to offer, weakening the American incentive to continue its support.
Other factors are also affecting the future of U.S. support for Ukraine. On June 26, while Russian troops were taking Shevchenko, the U.S. and China reached a final trade compromise and signed a new deal.
According to the White House, a key provision of the agreement was China’s resumption of rare earth metal exports, which are vital to the American defense industry. This could further reduce the U.S. interest in Ukrainian resources.
