GuShiio.com ① Ukraine President Zelensky said that Ukraine is not ready to sign a mineral resources agreement with the United States, which fails to protect Ukraine and its interests;
② Zelensky also said that to sign the mineral resources agreement, Ukraine needs to ensure that the agreement is feasible, beneficial to both countries, and can bring profits and security to Ukraine.
Cailian News, February 16 (Editor Xia Junxiong)On Saturday (February 15) local time, Ukraine President Zelensky said that Ukraine is not ready to sign a mineral resources agreement with the United States, which failed to protect Ukraine and its interests.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Trump revealed that the United States is seeking to reach an agreement with Ukraine that Ukraine will use rare earth minerals and other resources to ensure that the United States continues to provide assistance to Ukraine.
Zelensky later responded that if the United States could continue to provide weapons to Ukraine, he was willing to let the United States develop Ukraine’s resources.
However, according to media reports, the U.S. Congressional delegation to the Munich Security Conference submitted a document to Zelensky during a meeting in Munich and wanted him to sign it. The document requires Ukraine to authorize the United States to own 50% of Ukraine’s mineral resources, but Zelensky declined.
“I did not allow ministers to sign the agreement because in my opinion it did not yet protect us and our interests,” Zelensky said at a press conference at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
According to reports, the United States seeks to obtain about 50% of Ukraine’s rare mineral resources and has said it is willing to send troops to protect these mineral resources if an agreement is reached with Russia to end the war. U.S. Treasury Secretary Basent delivered the draft agreement to Zelensky when he visited Kiev on February 12.
Maps released by the Geological Survey of Ukraine show that although rare earth deposits have been discovered in many places in Ukraine, the largest known deposit is located across the eastern front.
“It’s important to talk about investing in Ukraine, which requires careful review by legal experts. If the mineral resources agreement is linked to the security agreement, we can think about how to allocate the benefits (from the mineral resources agreement),”Zelensky said.
He said that the agreement is not a security agreement, there are no security guarantees in the agreement, and signing the agreement is not in the interests of Ukraine.
Zelensky also said that to sign a mineral resources agreement, Ukraine needs to ensure that the agreement is feasible, beneficial to both countries, and can bring profits and security to Ukraine.
“These resources are not mine, they belong to our people,” Zelensky added.
