Ukraine, US to sign minerals deal on February 28 — media
According to AFP, government officials are now working on the details, and plan to visit Washington on Friday to sign the agreement
PARIS, February 26. /TASS/. Ukraine may sign a mineral resources agreement with the United States on the development of its reserves on February 28 in Washington, AFP reported citing sources.
According to them, government officials are now working on the details, and plan to visit Washington on Friday to sign the agreement.
The sources added that the deal includes a clause on "security" but does not mention the US contribution to Ukraine's defense.
"There is a general clause that says America will invest in a stable and prosperous sovereign Ukraine, that it works for a lasting peace, and that America supports efforts to guarantee security," an official told the agency.
The Financial Times reported, citing the final draft agreement, that Ukraine had agreed to the minerals deal with the US after the administration abandoned its requirement for Ukraine to contribute about $500 billion to the investment fund.
The document dated February 24, which the newspaper obtained, fails to mention security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kiev listed as one of the conditions for the deal.
The deal
In early February, US President Donald Trump said that Washington was interested in obtaining rare-earth metals from Ukraine. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Vladimir Zelensky the proposed mineral extraction deal on February 12. Zelensky did not sign the agreement either during his meeting with Bessent or later in Munich at a meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, even though he previously indicated he was willing to do so.
Zelensky insisted that the proposed deal lacked security guarantees for Ukraine. On February 21, however, US national security adviser Mike Waltz said that Zelensky would sign the agreement with Washington in the near future. After that, sources in Zelensky’s office told the Ukrainian media that the document had yet to be finalized, while Zelensky himself said at a press conference on February 23 that he "does not want to sign" the agreement with the US because it would supposedly burden ten generations of Ukrainians with debt.