Minerals deal: Ukrainian Minister reveals where Ukraine and US stand
Photo: Olha Stefanishyna (Vitalii Nosach/RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine has already submitted to the United States the proposals prepared in Kyiv for an agreement on rare earth metals. This took place during technical consultations in Washington, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna.
In particular, Stefanishyna stated that she could not disclose many details regarding the agreement, but the very fact that consultations are taking place is already a positive sign.
"As for what can be said at this stage: the Ukrainian delegation had the opportunity to present to the American side all the proposals we had prepared here in Kyiv, which had been coordinated. All of them became the subject of discussion," the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister said.
Stefanishyna expressed hope that negotiations would continue after the consultations until an agreement is reached.
“Obviously, this is not the final round,” the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister added.
The technical consultations regarding the minerals deal with the United States involved teams from Ukraine's Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Economy.
Rare earth metals agreement
In February of this year, Ukraine and the United States had planned to sign a framework agreement on rare earth resources. However, this did not happen due to a conflict between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump during their meeting at the White House on March 28. Afterward, Washington sent Kyiv a new draft agreement in the field of mineral extraction.
According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the new agreement is no longer a framework document but a fully developed one. President Zelensky confirmed that it concerns a finalized document.
At the same time, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak commented to RBC-Ukraine that the new agreement is primarily commercial in nature and significantly limits Ukraine's rights over the control of its own mineral resources.
Meanwhile, Trump had claimed that Zelenskyy allegedly wanted to abandon the rare earth metals agreement.
