Ukraine is not yet ready to sign a mineral resource agreement with the United States, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a news conference at the Munich Security Conference, stating that the agreement "was not ready to protect" Ukraine and its interests.
"I did not allow the ministers to sign the agreement because, in my opinion, it's not ready to protect us, our interests," Zelensky said at a news conference attended by Kyiv Independent journalists on Feb. 15.
The U.S. seeks to obtain 50% of Ukraine's rare minerals and has signaled openness to deploy American troops to guard them if there is a deal with Russia to end the war, NBC reported on Feb. 15, citing unnamed American officials.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a draft of the agreement to President Volodymyr Zelensky during a visit to Kyiv on Feb. 12.
Zelensky refused to sign the agreement after Bessent's presentation, saying he needed to study it and consult with others.
"It's important to talk about investments in Ukraine and this needs to be closely examined by legal experts. We can consider how to distribute the profits (from the mineral resource agreement) if it is tied to a security agreement," Zelensky added.
The proposed agreement, which Zelensky referred to earlier as "a memorandum," was not a security agreement, Zelensky added.
"There are no security guarantees," in the proposed agreement, Zelensky said, adding that signing the agreement "was not in our interest today."
For a mineral resource agreement to be signed, Ukraine would need to know that the agreement would work, be a positive one for both countries, as well as bring profit and security for Ukraine, Zelensky added.
"These resources are not mine, they are of our people," Zelensky concluded.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged to broker a swift peace deal to end Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
Following up on his earlier proposition of ensuring U.S. support for Ukraine in exchange for rare earth minerals, Trump claimed that Kyiv has "essentially agreed" to a deal on a $500 billion resource deal.
Ukraine has already signaled it is open to developing a partnership in resource extraction with the U.S. and other partners in exchange for security guarantees, but details on such a deal remain murky.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
