Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected a US offer to transfer to them about 50% of the rights to Ukrainian rare earth minerals, as the deal did not have clear security guarantees from the United States.
This is reported by the Financial Times newspaper.
According to three sources, Zelenskyy insists that any agreement on mineral resources be directly linked to American and European security guarantees.
During his visit to the Office of the President in Kyiv, Scott Bessent, the US Secretary of the Treasury, brought a document that Donald Trump wanted Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign before Bessent returned to Washington.
Before discussing the deal with Zelenskyy privately for about an hour, Bessent told reporters that it was an “economic agreement” with Kyiv that should “further integrate our economies.”
He said the Trump administration would “stand with Kyiv until the end,” increasing economic support that would provide “a long-term security shield for all Ukrainians” after the war with russia ends.
But one Ukrainian official who has seen the document told the FT that it “had no provisions for future US security guarantees.”
Asked whether the deal was bad for Ukraine, another official said: “It’s a deal from Trump.” “That’s his negotiating style. Tough,” he added.
Kyiv’s main concern is that the deal makes no connection to broader security guarantees, three people who have seen the document said.
Ukrainian officials have asked how the deal would contribute to the country’s long-term security, but have received only a general answer that it would ensure a US presence on Ukrainian land.
Bessent, for his part, insisted that the mere presence of Americans guarding the mineral extraction sites would be a sufficient deterrent for Moscow.
Another controversial point in the agreement is a provision that all disputes over mineral rights must be resolved in New York courts, two sources said.
At the same time, a senior Ukrainian official told the Financial Times that Kyiv was “trying to negotiate a better deal.”
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