Europe wakes to a harsh truth – it has precious little to offer deal-hungry Trump

“How many foreign mining concerns are going to want to put money into those sorts of circumstances?” Ian Bond at the Centre for European Reform asks.

“We are a long way from the first shovel going into the ground, let alone from minerals in usable quantities coming out of the earth.

“There are already significant sources of the rare earths and most of the other minerals that Ukraine has in other friendly countries like Canada, Australia, Chile.

“I am not saying it would not be useful to have – I think for Europeans particularly having something relatively on their doorstep is quite attractive. But with the exception of graphite and maybe titanium, Ukraine is not going to be a game changer.

“If your choice is investing in Canada or investing in Ukraine, your first choice is going to be Canada.”