Ukraine said on Wednesday that it had concluded a “preliminary” agreement to provide the income from some of its mineral resources in the United States, before a scheduled trip to Washington by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.
The agreement is at the heart of Ukrainian attempts to ensure strong support by American president Donald Trump as he quickly seeks the Russian war in Ukraine, with American-Russian talks that have so far excluded kyiv who will continue THURSDAY.
“The main thing for me is that we are not the debtors. There is no American debt of $ 500 billion in the agreement, neither $ 350, nor 100 billion dollars because it would be unfair”, said Zelenskyy in a drop in press from the agreement.
Trump judged the agreement as a reimbursement for billions of dollars in kyiv aid during the war. Zelenskyy has requested security guarantees in exchange for mineral rights, but it is not clear if these requests have succeeded.
“This agreement is one of our greater agreements with the United States. This agreement could be part of the future security guarantees … An agreement is an agreement, but we must understand the wider vision,” said Zelenskyy.
“This agreement could be a great success or it could take place quietly. And the great success depends on our conversation with President Trump.”
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No interest in a “colonial treaty”: Ukraine PM
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal said Washington would undertake to support kyiv’s efforts to obtain security guarantees under the finalized agreement, but the Americans did not offer any promises of security.
Shmyhal said the government of Ukraine would authorize the wording agreed later on Wednesday so that it can be signed. He described it as a “preliminary” agreement.
Shmyhal, describing the agreement in television comments, said kyiv would contribute 50% of “all profits received from the future monetization of all natural resources and relevant infrastructure belonging to the State”.
These profits went in a fund under joint control of the United States and Ukraine, he said, adding that no decision concerning the governance of the fund could be taken without the agreement of kyiv.
“Deposits, installations, licenses and already existing rents are not subject to discussions when creating this fund,” he added.
He said: “Of course, neither the president nor the government would sign or consider … a colonial treaty which has not taken into account the interests of the state.”
A copy of a draft agreementSeen by Reuters and dated February 25, was entitled “Bilateral Agreement establishing terms and conditions for a reconstruction investment fund”.
He says: “The United States government of America supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees necessary to establish lasting peace.”
While discussions took place in the mineral agreement, Washington and Moscow began bilateral talks.
Lavrov of Russia rejects the idea of post-war soldiers
The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, said that the talks between the Kremlin and the US officials in Istanbul should be resolved by bilateral disputes that are part of a broader dialogue that the parties consider as crucial to end the Ukraine war.
Lavrov said that Moscow could not consider “no option” for European peacekeepers sent to Ukraine and that the idea was aimed at fueling conflict and making defense more difficult.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke in favor of the concept during the talks with Trump on Monday, saying that the troops could be deployed to ensure that any peace agreement was respected. Trump said that he had accepted the idea and that Russian president Vladimir Putin did it too, although the Kremlin later indicated that the Russian opposition was unchanged.
French President Emmanuel Macron met Ukraine on Monday with Ukraine. At one point, Macron intervened to challenge Trump’s framing on how European funding takes place towards Ukraine, saying: “We have provided real money, to be clear”.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is expected to hold interviews with Trump on Thursday, said he would be ready to send British troops to Ukraine as part of any post-war peacekeeping.
But Lavrov, who previously described the proposal for “unacceptable”, expressed Moscow’s objections to any deployment in some of the strongest terms to date, deleting any doubt about the question after Trump’s suggestion that Putin came to the idea.
“We cannot consider any options” with regard to European peace soldiers, he said during a visit to Qatar.
“This approach, which is imposed by Europeans, mainly France, but also the British, is aimed at what I have just mentioned: feeding the conflict more and stopping any attempt to calm it down,” he added .
Doubling on Russia’s maximum approach to any potential regulations on Ukraine, Lavrov said that Moscow still wanted total control over four regions that she claims to be her own in any agreement, despite the Ukrainian objections.
On Wednesday, fighting, the bombs attacks guided the Russian against the eastern city of Kostiantynivka in Ukraine killed at least five people and injured eight, said the regional governor of Donetsk of the city.
At least three bombs had been used to target the city and its suburbs, said the governor on the Messenger Telegram.
“Recently, Russian attacks on civilians in Kostiantynivka have become more frequent and more serious,” he added.
