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Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski said on Tuesday that the United States had proposed a new critical agreement on Kiev’s minerals, which goes far from the initial framework agreement, crushed last month as part of Donald Trump’s efforts to end Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.
Greenski told reporters that he had not yet reviewed the proposal, but said he did not include increased involvement in the United States in the Ukrainian nuclear sector, which Trump proposed last week.
The Ukrainian president has described the latest US proposal as a “big, comprehensive agreement”.
Financial Times reported on Friday That Trump administration was seeking new conditions for US access to critical minerals and energy in Ukraine and considering expanding its economic demands to Kiev to potentially involve ownership of its nuclear capacity.
The US president requested a Minerals agreement To make up for billions of dollars, provided to Kiev since the beginning of Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Washington has now proposed a minerals agreement that will bypass the previous framework phase and go directly to detail who owns and controls a joint investment fund.
Greenski said: “Earlier, we had a framework agreement, followed by the development of a full deal. Now, the US side immediately proposed a great deal.”
A spokesman for the US Treasury said: “The United States remains committed to the rapid conclusion of this vital agreement and to provide lasting peace for both Ukraine and Russia.”
The United States has refused to sign the initial critical minerals agreement after the catastrophic White House bust involving Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Greenski. Washington briefly replied by Stop US military aid and sharing intelligence with Kyiv.
The original critical minerals agreement, more than two weeks in February, was due to pave the way for further discussions on US security guarantees for Ukraine after the war with Russia ended.
The White House argues that security guarantees are inherent in any critical mineral agreement, as US economic investment in Ukraine would prevent Russia from attacking.
Kiev did not fully accept the argument and demanded additional US guarantees, which they have not received so far.
While many details of the US mineral agreement are unclear, with Ukrainian authorities arguing over the multi-foreign document, they were facilitated that they called for us to hand over nuclear power plants in the United States.
But officials are concerned that their efforts to provide a version of the original Trump administration agreement can now be lost and replaced with a proposal for greater economic demands.
A Ukrainian official familiar with the issue said Washington raised the nuclear issue in the discussions, but did not include it in the new proposal.
They did not exclude it from being part of future talks related to Trump’s pressure to end Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Last week there was confusion following a call between Trump and Greenski after the US president said he had been discussing potentially taking control of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities.
Zelenski said the two leaders only discussed the Nuclear Power Plant of Kakarizhija in southeastern Ukraine, which is currently under the control of Russian forces.
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