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US drives hard bargain on Ukrainian minerals deal — NYT

According to the newspaper, the terms of the February 21 proposal "call for Ukraine to relinquish half of its revenues from natural resources, including minerals, gas and oil, as well as earnings from ports and other infrastructure"

© Alexander Polegenko/TASS

NEW YORK, February 22. /TASS/. The terms of a new offer on Ukrainian natural resources not only include Ukraine relinquishing half of its revenues from natural resources but also its income from ports and other infrastructure, the New York Times (NYT) reported.

According to the newspaper, the terms of the February 21 proposal "call for Ukraine to relinquish half of its revenues from natural resources, including minerals, gas and oil, as well as earnings from ports and other infrastructure."

"Some of the terms appear even tougher than in a previous draft," the media outlet pointed out.

"But while the new document calls for a series of commitments from Ukraine it still does not provide any specific commitments in return from the US to help Ukraine sustain its war effort. It says, however, that the United States intends to provide a long-term financial commitment to help Ukraine develop economically," the NYT said.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that "an agreement could be signed as soon as Saturday, although it is not yet complete," adding that "the exact terms [of the agreement] could not be learned."

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada member Alexey Goncharenko (listed as terrorist and extremist in Russia) later said that the deal will be signed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

On February 12, US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent handed over a draft agreement on rare-earth metals while visiting Kiev. Zelensky did not sign it then, nor later, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, during his meeting with US Vice President JD Vance. Instead, the Ukrainian delegation presented a revised version with its proposed amendments which the Americans decided not to take into account.

In recent days, tensions between the US and Ukraine have escalated sharply. US President Donald Trump labeled Zelensky a dictator and accused him of obstructing a rare earths deal. In response, Zelensky suggested that Trump was a victim of "Russian disinformation.".

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