Ukraine still in talks with US about minerals deal, says spokesman
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and US President Donald Trump during a disastrous meeting at the White House on Feb 28.
REUTERS
Follow topic:
KYIV – Ukraine is continuing to hold talks with the US about a minerals deal, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on March 21.
The White House said on March 19 that it had moved beyond “just the economic minerals deal framework” and was focused on peace between Ukraine and Russia, and President Donald Trump said on March 20 that the US would sign
“Ukraine was even ready to sign the agreement in Jeddah,” Mr Heorhii Tykhyi, the ministry’s spokesman, told a briefing, referring to talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia last week and ahead of more talks there
He said the US team had at that time requested additional consultations in Washington about the deal, which Mr Trump sees as a way to pay back Washington for its assistance to Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Mr Tykhyi said the teams “continued dialogue” but declined to comment on media reports that the US was aiming to change the terms of the agreed draft, envisaging creating a reconstruction investment fund tied to the sale of Ukraine’s minerals.
“If the American side has additional ideas on how to conclude this document and how to move forward, they need to be considered at the level of teams that are communicating,” he said.
The White House has suggested that the US could help run and possibly own
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied on March 21 that he and Mr Trump had discussed potential American ownership. REUTERS
