BERLIN

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has criticized US President Donald Trump's proposal to exchange military aid for Ukraine's rare earth minerals, calling such an approach “selfish” and “self-centered.”

Speaking at a news conference in Brussels late Monday, at the end of a EU leaders' summit, Scholz said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's "Victory plan" includes detailed proposals on how Ukraine's raw materials can be used for postwar rebuilding efforts.

“We should use the country's resources to finance everything that is needed after the war. It would be very selfish and very self-centered to say: We are using the money to fund defense support now,” Scholz said.

“It's about Ukraine having a strong army in the future and it's about Ukraine being able to finance its reconstruction. In view of the huge destruction, these are major tasks facing Ukraine. That's why I think it would be better if Ukraine's resources were used for a good future,” he added.

Scholz's comments came in response to Trump's argument that Ukraine should provide the US with access to its rare earth minerals in exchange for continued military support in its war against Russia.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump complained that the US is providing Ukraine with more economic and military aid than Europe and suggested Kyiv is open to his proposal.

“We're telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earth (minerals). We want what we put up (in money) to go in terms of a guarantee. We want a guarantee. We're handing them money hand over fist,” he said. “I want to have security of rare earth. We're putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth, and I want security of the rare earth. And they're willing to do it.”

Ukraine is sitting on massive reserves of critical rare earth minerals. It holds about 5% of the world’s total of mineral resources, according to a 2024 World Economic Forum report.

In addition to having one of the largest confirmed reserves of lithium, Ukraine boasts semiconductor-grade neon gas that is critical for chip production, beryllium, uranium, zirconium, apatite, iron ore and manganese.