The United States is taking control of Ukrainian mines
The United States is going to sign a deal on Ukraine’s mineral resources. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on US rights to mineral resources. Zelensky, however, described the bilateral agreement as preliminary and said that he wants Ukraine to be included in the US security zone through this agreement – so that Russia can repel any new aggression against Ukraine.
However, Donald Trump has said that the US will not provide “too many” security guarantees, but that Europe should take on the responsibility of providing security to Ukraine.
The US president has also ruled out the possibility of Ukraine becoming a member of NATO, although this has been a long-standing goal of Zelensky. Last Wednesday, Donald Trump told his cabinet that the presence of American personnel on Ukrainian soil to extract rare minerals would give Ukraine “automatic security”.
On NATO, Trump said Kiev should “forget” about NATO membership. He reiterated Russia’s claim that this was one of the reasons for the war. The US president hinted at the possibility of a ceasefire, saying, “We will make an agreement with Russia and Ukraine to stop the killing.”
However, Zelensky said that without security guarantees, “we will not go to a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing will succeed.” He said, “I want to find a way to NATO or something like that.”
Russia has long opposed Ukraine’s NATO membership. Because Russia believes that this would bring NATO’s military forces too close to Russia’s borders. NATO, the world’s largest military alliance, said in 2008 that Ukraine could join. Tensions have been rising since then.
As part of the ceasefire agreement, Donald Trump has suggested deploying a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, but Russia has opposed it.
No Europeans were included in the initial talks with Russia in Washington. In an interview with the BBC on Wednesday, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaya Kalas, said that “for any agreement to be implemented on European soil, it has to be agreed to by the Europeans.”
Kaalas had been scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But that meeting was abruptly canceled. Both sides cited scheduling complications as the reason for the cancellation.
Zelensky, on the other hand, said the success of the mineral resources deal would depend on the outcome of his meeting with Trump this week. His government also backed it on Wednesday evening. Details of the deal have not yet been released. However, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the deal included an “investment fund” to rebuild Ukraine.
The deal was first proposed last year by Volodymyr Zelensky himself, so that the US would have a real reason to support Ukraine. Initially, the US wanted $500 billion worth of mineral resources from Ukraine, but the Ukrainian president rejected the request. However, media reports say that demand has now been dropped.
Now the two sides are talking differently about the content of the deal. Donald Trump has described it as a “very big deal”. He has said that it is an opportunity for the US to get back the financial aid it has given to Ukraine so far.
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