President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has refused to sign an agreement granting the United States access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals. According to him, the reason for this was the conditions set by the United States, which do not take into account Ukrainian interests and therefore do not provide any security guarantees. The White House called the decision "short-sighted".
This was reported by Associated Press.
Zelenskyy explained his position in an interview with AP during the Munich Security Conference.
"I did not allow the ministers to sign the relevant agreement because, in my opinion, it is not ready to protect us, our interests," he said.
The gist of the US proposal
One current and one former Ukrainian official told AP on condition of anonymity that the US proposal included Kyiv using its rare earth minerals "as compensation" for the assistance Ukraine has already received from the Biden administration, as well as payment for future assistance.
At the same time, the document handed over to the Ukrainian side by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bassett during his visit to Kyiv on February 14 did not include specific security guarantees for Ukraine.
"This is a colonial agreement, and Zelenskyy can not sign it," said a senior official, commenting on the president's refusal.
White House: This is an opportunity for Ukraine
White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes criticized Zelenskyy's decision, saying the Ukrainian president was "short-sighted about the great opportunity the Trump administration has provided for Ukraine."
According to him, the agreement would have helped American taxpayers "recoup" the funds that had already been sent to Kyiv and at the same time stimulate Ukraine's economic development. Hughes also stressed that close economic ties between Ukraine and the United States could be the best guarantee against future aggression.
"The United States recognizes that, the Russians recognize that, and the Ukrainians should recognize that," he said.
The problem of field security
According to media reports, Ukraine has significant reserves of strategic minerals used in the aviation, defense and nuclear industries. Washington is interested in their extraction to reduce US dependence on supplies from China. However, according to AP, most of the deposits are located close to the front line or in areas that could be targeted by Russian attacks.
According to the agency's sources, American officials who negotiated with Ukrainian representatives in Munich focused mostly on the commercial aspects of production, without offering specific solutions to protect these fields in the event of continued Russian aggression.
"The U.S. has no ready answers to this question," the AP source said.
The Ukrainian government insists that any deal on minerals must comply with Ukrainian law and be supported by the public.
"The subsoil belongs to Ukrainians under the constitution," Ksenia Orynchak, founder of the National Association of Mining Industry of Ukraine, told AP.
Zelenskyy and Vance Negotiations: Different Views on the Future
The minerals agreement was a key topic of a meeting between Zelenskiy and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday. However, according to an AP source, the details of the American document were not discussed at the meeting.
Zelenskyy told Vance that real peace is possible only if Ukraine has a "strong position" at the beginning of any negotiations. He stressed that the United States, Ukraine, and Europe should sit together at the negotiating table with Russia.
However, the Trump administration's special representative for Ukraine and Russia, General Keith Kellogg, suggested that European countries could be excluded from the potential negotiation process.
"There should be Ukrainians, Russians and, of course, Americans at the table," he said at an event organized by a Ukrainian businessman in Munich. Asked if that meant Europeans would not be involved in the process, he replied: "I have a realistic approach. I think it will not happen."
Ukraine prepares counter-proposal
The Ukrainian side, for its part, is known to be working on a counter-proposal to be submitted to the United States in the near future.
"I believe that Vice President Vance understood me: if we are going to sign something, we have to be sure that it will work. This means that the agreement should bring both financial benefits and security guarantees," Zelenskyy said.
Author: Danylo Pievchev