Ukraine and the US are finalising negotiations on an agreement on rare earth metals. The document is expected to be signed soon.
This was reported by Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and Minister of Justice, on social media platform X.
She noted that the negotiations were very constructive, and almost all key details have been agreed upon.
"We are committed to completing this quickly to proceed with its signing. We hope that the leaders of the United States and Ukraine will sign and approve it in Washington as soon as possible to demonstrate our commitment for decades to come," Stefanishyna added.
- Ukraine is preparing to sign an agreement with the US on the development of mineral deposits.
- This month, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited Ukraine and brought a draft agreement on rare earth metals. The United States wanted to take ownership of 50% of the raw materials as compensation for its assistance in the war. Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not agree to take such a step and did not sign the agreement.
- The document was later finalised and handed over to the Americans at the Munich Security Conference.
- Later, Zelenskyy said that the American proposals for access to Ukraine's valuable minerals were clear in only one respect: getting half of the Ukrainian resources listed in the document. But there was nothing about security guarantees.
- Recently, it became known that ‘significant improvements’ had been made to the newly amended text of the agreement and that the document was in line with Ukrainian law. Some articles, such as the one stating that the agreement was under the jurisdiction of a New York court, were removed.
- As of the evening of 21 February, officials from the US and Ukraine were negotiating the document in an attempt to stop the deterioration of relations between the two countries. US Special Representative Keith Kellogg was in Kyiv at the time, meeting with aides to the Ukrainian president.
- On 22 February, it became known that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not ready to sign a minerals agreement with the US, as the Ukrainian side sees "a number of problematic issues" in the draft agreement. The document is imperfect: it contains only unilateral obligations for our country.
- Work on the document is ongoing. Yesterday, OP chairman Andriy Yermak and Olha Stefanishyna held talks with American partners. The US side was represented by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and National Security Advisor Michael Volz, their teams and a representative of the team of US Vice President J.D. Vance. The head of the OP noted that the agreement with the US on minerals will be signed by an authorised person, who will be determined after the document is ready.