‘It’s blackmail’: Ukrainians react to Trump demand for $500bn share of minerals

Ukraine's lithium deposits are among biggest in Europe and the US is looking for payback' for previous military assistance

Drawing in the snow with his finger, Mykola Hrechukha sketched out how Ukraine's new lithium mine might look. It would have a deep central shaft, with a series of side tunnels, he said. The lithium is good everywhere. The biggest concentration is at a depth of 200-500 metres," he said. We should be able to extract 4,300 tonnes a day. The potential is terrific."

For now, though, there is little sign of activity. The deposit is buried under a large sloping field, used in communist times to grow beetroot and wheat. The mine's proposed entrance is in an abandoned former-Soviet village, Liodiane, today a scruffy grove of acacia and maple trees. The only inhabitant is a security guard, who lives on the 150-hectare site in an ancient Gaz-53 truck. Wild boar and even a wolf sometimes wander past.