The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has told his assistants to reject a proposal of the Trump administration officials that would give the United States significant access to rare minerals of Ukraine, a Ukrainian official close to Zelenskyy confirmed NBC News .
American officials said the proposal would serve as a form of refund for the support that Washington has provided to kyiv since its war with Russia began, but according to the assistant close to the Ukrainian president, Zelenskyy did not feel the agreement that contained adequate security guarantees for Ukraine.
The draft agreement would have granted the ownership of 50% of the United States of rare minerals of Ukraine and was first proposed to Zelenskyy last week by the Treasury Secretary, Scott Besent, NBC News reported.
“I did not let the ministers sign a relevant agreement because, in my opinion, it is not ready to protect us, our interest,” Zelenskyy said at the Munich Security Conference, in an appointment reported for the first time by Associated Press on Saturday.
An American official called Zelenskyy’s response to the Trump “Miope” administration offer, and adding the agreement would serve as a “lasting association” between the two nations.
“The economic ties binding with the United States will be the best guarantee against future aggression and an integral part of lasting peace. The United States recognizes this, Russians recognize this and Ukrainians must recognize this, ”said the official.
American officials reported the proposal indicated an opening to deploy US troops in Ukraine to protect minerals, but only after an agreement with Russia was agreed to end the war.
Zelenskyy refused to sign the draft when Besent presented it for the first time during his meeting at kyiv last Wednesday, saying that he needed to study it and consult others about it, officials reported on the meeting to NBC News.
President Donald Trump said in a recent interview with Fox News that he wanted the United States to obtain the rare land minerals of Ukraine worth $ 500 billion and said Kyiv “essentially agreed to do so.”
Ukraine has some of the largest reservations in the world of titanium and iron mineral, which are used to make a variety of technological products. However, many of the minerals are in areas now controlled by Russian troops, according to US officials.
Ukrainian officials have said that Zelenskyy has long supported the idea of exchange “critical resources” for the continuous support of the United States, calling the idea part of the “Victoria Plan” that presented Trump during a meeting the past fall.
In an exclusive interview on Friday at the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy told the “Meet The Press” moderator of NBC News, Kristen Welker, that his country would have a “low opportunity to survive without support to the United States” , but Trump has long questioned the amount of quantity. Of support that the United States has sent to the country, referring to Zelenskyy in a past campaign event as “the best seller of all time.”
