Political analyst on US mineral deal: It resembles colonial terms

"If we talk about the mineral resources agreement, it’s an extremely complex case. What the Americans are proposing now raises questions about the adequacy of those who drafted this agreement. It’s something on the level of the conditions American colonizers offered to the indigenous people when they arrived," Nesvitailov stated.

According to him, the agreement contains nothing about Ukraine’s interests.

"This resembles a colonial agreement. It is absolutely unacceptable," the political analyst emphasized.

He noted that the new agreement is completely different from the one previously agreed upon and set to be signed in Washington. According to the political analyst, this "raises further doubts, suggesting that it was most likely an act of sabotage."

"To move so far from the agreed text to what we have now — there is an absolute chasm between these versions of the agreement, between the framework agreement and what is essentially a bondage contract — makes it look like reparations are being imposed on us. I think if the US is genuinely interested in this agreement, there is still room for adjustments, because in its current form, not only should it not be signed, it shouldn’t even be shown to people," Nesvitailov stated.

Ukraine-US agreement

In February, Ukraine and the US began discussions on a rare earth metals agreement. Since then, both sides have been working on terms that would be acceptable to both Kyiv and Washington.

The two countries were expected to finalize the agreement at the end of February when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US President Donald Trump at the White House. However, the meeting did not go as planned, and the two leaders had a heated argument in the Oval Office.

As a result of the dispute, the US canceled the signing of the agreement with Ukraine. However, Trump continued to express interest in the deal.

Recently, it became known that Washington has already sent Kyiv a new draft of the resource agreement.

According to Zelenskyy, the new agreement is now a full-fledged deal rather than a framework agreement, as previously intended.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the US has prepared a "comprehensive" version of the minerals agreement for Ukraine and that it could be finalized next week.

Additionally, Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak told RBC-Ukraine that the new rare earth metals agreement between Ukraine and the US is more commercial in nature and significantly restricts Ukraine’s rights.

Bloomberg reported that the US handed over the revised agreement to Ukrainian representatives last weekend. According to media sources, Ukraine is likely to respond to the US document with its own amendments this week.

Meanwhile, today, Trump claimed that Zelenskyy allegedly wants to reject the rare earth metals agreement.

However, it was later revealed that Ukraine and the US held a technical online meeting regarding the deal.