Zelenskyy: US rare earths deal lackes security guarantees for Ukraine

"The document was unclear, except for one thing — it clearly stated that we would have to give up 50% of everything listed in it. By the way, we are not afraid of this, I am ready to make this document public. I said that the document was unfinished. It is beyond my capabilities, beyond my powers, beyond the Constitution of Ukraine and everything written there, including jurisdiction in New York, and so on," Zelenskyy stated.

According to the President of Ukraine, the agreement did not include any security guarantees for Ukraine. He added that during his meeting with US Vice President JD Vance in Munich, they agreed that security guarantees should be included in the agreement.

"There is not a single word about security guarantees. And during the second meeting with Vance, we agreed that something about this should be included, but no one knows exactly what," the head of state said.

Zelenskyy added that he personally proposed including such provisions in the agreement to add specificity to the memorandum.

"I said, to have some kind of positive outcome — you write in some security guarantees, and we will include certain percentages in the memorandum. They only mentioned 50%. I said, 'Okay, no.' Then, I let the lawyers continue working on it. So, they didn't finalize it," the President emphasized.

The head of state reiterated that Ukraine wants security guarantees and aims to end the war this year. According to him, the US rejects NATO membership for Ukraine as a security guarantee.

Rare earths deal

Previously, the US proposed a partnership agreement under which they would gain access to Ukraine's strategic materials as a form of compensation for the assistance provided. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent presented the deal in Ukraine, but the Ukrainian side refused to sign it.

Western media reported that the US wanted Ukraine to transfer rights to 50% of its rare earth resources.

According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration insists on gaining control over a wider range of Ukrainian resources, including lithium, graphite, and uranium, sometimes mistakenly classified as "rare earths."

Last week in Munich, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the agreement with the US was still unfinished, and discussions with the American side were ongoing.