President's Office head shares first details of conversation with US on minerals deal
Head of the President's Office Andrii Yermak (photo: Vitalii Nosach RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine is negotiating an agreement on rare earths with the United States of America. The conversation is constructive, stated the head of the Presidential Office, Andrii Yermak.
Yermak noted that he had to leave the Forum "Ukraine. The year 2025" Forum together with First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko for an important conversation with American partners regarding the rare-earths agreement.
He noted that they were also joined by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice Olha Stefanishyna.
The US side was represented by US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, their teams, and a representative of the team of US Vice President J.D. Vance.
"We are making progress in our work. We are having a constructive conversation. The United States is our partner and we are grateful to the American people, grateful for the bipartisan support - you have been with us for all three years of the Russian invasion," Yermak emphasized.
On February 12, President Zelenskyy said that Bessent had brought to Ukraine a draft agreement on access to Ukrainian minerals worth $500 billion in exchange for Washington's assistance.
Later, Kyiv refused to sign the agreement because it was not ready to protect Ukrainian interests.
Yermak, in turn, said that Ukraine has not abandoned the agreement and that negotiations with partners are currently continuing in a working mode.
Also, recently, US President Donald Trump claimed that the US has allegedly spent $350 billion to support Ukraine, but this figure is much higher than the actual amount.
At the same time, Svyrydenko noted that rare earths worth $350 billion are located in the temporarily occupied territories.
