Ukraine has reportedly agreed with the Trump adminstration terms of a contensious rare earth mineral deal as Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to meet the US President on Friday.
Ukrainian officials hope the rare earth minal deal will pave the way to better relations with the US, after President Donald Trump made inflammatory comments about Volodymyr Zelensky and said the US wouldn’t continue to provide American aid for the war with Russia without getting something in return.
Trump originally demanded $500bn worth of mineral riches in return for US support, sparking consternation in Kyiv and Europe.
After Zelensky rejected the first draft last week, Trump lashed out at the Ukrainian President, calling him a “dictator” and blaming Ukraine for starting the war.
It has now emerged President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with Trump in Washington on Friday, according to Sky News.
Officials involved in the minerals negotiations on Tuesday said that they had negotiated better terms and that the agreement would help to secure future US security commitments.
“The minerals agreement is only part of the picture,” Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister who has led the negotiations, told the Financial Times.
“We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture.”
The final version of the agreement, seen by the Financial Times, would see Ukraine contributing 50 per cent of proceeds from the “future monetisation” of state-owned mineral resources into a fund.
However, the agreement does not refer to US security guarantees and omits details on the size of the US stake in the fund or the terms of “joint ownership” deals.
Ukraine holds huge deposits of critical elements and minerals, including lithium and titanium, vital to the manufacturing of many modern technologies. It also has vast reserves of coal, oil, gas and uranium.
Zelensky had previously floated the idea of allowing the US access to Ukraine’s natural resources as part of a “victory plan” that the president presented to the country’s allies last year.
On Friday, he told Reuters: “The Americans helped the most and therefore the Americans should earn the most.”
Ukrainian officials said that the deal had been approved by the justice, economy and foreign ministers and that Zelensky might visit the White House in the coming weeks for a signing ceremony with Trump.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Ukraine reportedly agrees mineral deal with US ahead of Zelensky-Trump meeting )
Also on site :
- Popular Dunkin’ Menu Item Gets a ‘Glow-Up’ in Limited-Edition Release
- Term Sheet Next: How Facebook’s former chief revenue officer is coaching the next generation of startup founders
- Nuclear agency head warns of radiological and chemical contamination inside Iran’s main nuclear site