MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky said he is ready to make a deal and offered US President Donald Trump Ukrainian minerals and underground gas storage sites in exchange for security guarantees.
"If we are talking about a deal, then let's do a deal, we are only for it," he said in an interview with Reuters.
Zelensky insisted Ukraine will need security guarantees as part of any settlement.
When it comes to natural resources, Kiev is not proposing to give them away, but offering a mutually beneficial partnership to develop them jointly, according to the interview.
"The Americans helped the most, and therefore the Americans should earn the most. And they should have this priority, and they will. I would also like to talk about this with President Trump," Zelensky said.
He also said Kiev and Washington are discussing the idea of using Ukraine’s underground gas storage facilities to hold US natural gas.
"We are ready and willing to have contracts for LNG supplies to Ukraine. And of course, we will be a hub for the whole of Europe, " he stated.
In recent days, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has been touting Ukrainian gas storage sites as an attractive option for holding US gas. However, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Georgy Tikhy on Friday effectively conceded that none of the country’s partners had shown interest in the sites so far.
Zelensky's interview came out as the US president said on February 7 they could meet next week, possibly in Washington. Zelensky, for his part, also said preparations are underway for talks between Washington and Kiev.
"The next few weeks can be very busy diplomatically, and we will do whatever is takes to make this an effective and productive time. We always appreciate working with President Trump. We are also planning team-level meetings and talks. Ukrainian and American teams are already working out the details. A strong and lasting peace should be closer," he wrote on Telegram.
Rare earths
On February 3, Trump said the US is interested in getting rare-earth metals from Ukraine and asked for relevant guarantees. Ukrainian news media reported then that a significant portion of Ukrainian rare-earth metals is located in areas outside of Kiev's control. The Ukrainian edition of Forbes estimated the value of Ukraine's mineral resources to be at about $15 trillion as of April 2023. More than 70% of the mineral reserves are located in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and the Dnepropetrovsk Region, which is getting ever closer to the front line.
On February 4, Zelensky himself conceded that large amounts of minerals and rare earth metals offered to Washington are located in areas outside of Kiev's control. On the same day, he said that Kiev is ready to end the hot phase of the hostilities and acknowledged that Ukraine doesn’t have the potential to regain the lost territories.