Ukraine, US still ironing out parts of minerals pact

According to me-metals cited from mining.com, The draft agreement proposed by the Trump administration currently has some questionable elements, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy isn’t ready to approve it, said the person, who asked not to be identified to discuss private talks. The person declined to say what in the draft has triggered Kyiv’s objections.

Ukrainian officials discussed the potential minerals accord with US special envoy Keith Kellogg during his visit to Kyiv, after Zelenskiy rejected an initial offer from Washington earlier in the month. The Ukrainian leader said that proposal needed a tie to US security guarantees and “was not in the interest of a sovereign Ukraine.”

The US proposal envisaged securing 50% of license sales and other proceeds from the minerals, which would violate Ukrainian laws, a person familiar with the discussions said at the time. It also covered revenue from oil, gas and ports, ABC News reported, citing a draft document.

Kyiv said it put forward changes to the proposal that would benefit both sides. Critics of the draft deal denounced it as reminiscent of colonialism of centuries past.

“Teams from Ukraine and the US are working on a draft agreement between our governments,” Zelenskiy said in his daily address to the nation late Friday. “This is an agreement that can strengthen our relations, and the key is to work out the details to ensure its effectiveness,” he said, adding that he looked forward to “a just result.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the deal proposes that revenue received by the government in Kyiv from natural resources, infrastructure and other assets is allocated to a fund focused on long-term reconstruction and development of Ukraine, in which the US will have economic and governance rights. This would ensure the transparency, accountability and corporate governance necessary to attract private investment, he wrote in the Financial Times on Saturday.

“Let’s also be clear as to what this is not. The US would not be taking ownership of physical assets in Ukraine. Nor would it be saddling Ukraine with more debt,” Bessent wrote. “This type of economic pressure, while deployed by other global actors, would advance neither American nor Ukrainian interests. In order to create more value over the long term, the US must be invested alongside the people of Ukraine, so that both sides are incentivized to gain as much as possible.”

Today, Ukrainian and U.S. teams are working on a draft agreement between our governments. This agreement can add value to our relations—what matters most is getting the details right to ensure it truly works.
I look forward to a just results.

The US pressure on Ukraine to sign the deal comes as President Donald Trump has made a series of statements that have put Zelenskiy in an uncomfortable spot. The US president suggested earlier this week that Ukraine was to blame for the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago.

Trump has also signaled he wants to reach a deal with Moscow on how to end the conflict without Ukraine at the table, and called the democratically-elected Zelenskiy a “dictator” with a 4% approval rating.

The Ukrainian leader, whose approval stood at 57% in a recent poll, fired back, saying the US president had fallen for Russian “disinformation.”

Kyiv would ideally want a final deal on the minerals to be signed in the presence of the US and Ukrainian presidents, according to the person familiar with the talks. Zelenskiy, who met with Kellogg on Thursday, has pushed for a meeting with Trump before any potential sit-down the US leader has with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

source: mining.com