Ukraine and US Tentatively Approve Revised Mineral Agreement, Prepare for Zelenskyy-Trump Meeting

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that an agreement between Ukraine and the United States on minerals and rare earth metals has been agreed and that Ukraine's representatives have been invited to visit the United States. The teams are currently working on the details.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this at a press conference for journalists on 26 February.

According to Zelenskyy, the new version of the agreed agreement does not contain the controversial ‘$500 billion’ clause. 

‘The main issues that I raised - they sound good there. The teams worked well, both Ukrainians and Americans. The main thing is that we are not debtors there,’ Zelensky said. 

Earlier, the President of Ukraine said that he did not recognise that the United States had provided Ukraine with $500 billion in aid.

In the agreement, Ukraine and the US are listed as co-owners of a fund to which Ukraine will transfer 50% of the income from future mining of minerals and rare earth metals.

The President of Ukraine also said that government officials had ‘quite a good opinion’ of the agreement between Ukraine and the United States. The main thing is that Ukraine is not listed in the agreement as a US debtor. 

‘I won't give up even 10 cents if it is listed as a debt,’ Zelenskyy said.

He also said that the agreement does not include all the security guarantees that Ukraine wants. However, the text says that the US supports ‘Ukraine's efforts to obtain the security guarantees necessary for sustainable peace’.

‘I asked for an understanding that all this is part of Ukraine's future security guarantees,’ Zelenskyy said.

He stressed that this agreement is a framework and is not subject to ratification. Next, the US and Ukraine will work on a detailed agreement, which will be ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine after it is approved and signed by both parties.