Zelensky ‘not ready’ to sign minerals deal with US: Source
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is said to be not close to signing a deal that would give US companies access to his country's natural resources.
PHOTO: AFP
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KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “not ready” to sign a deal that would give the US preferential access to his country’s rare earth minerals, a Ukrainian source told AFP.
US President Donald Trump wants Ukraine to give US companies access as compensation
Mr Mike Waltz, Mr Trump’s national security adviser, on Feb 21 predicted that Mr Zelensky would sign the deal soon, but the contours of the proposed agreement have not been made public.
“In the form in which the draft is now, the President is not ready to accept, we are still trying to make changes and add constructiveness,” a Ukrainian source close to the matter told AFP on Feb 22.
“There are no American obligations in the agreement regarding guarantees or investments, everything about them is very vague, and they want to extract US$500 billion (S$668 billion) from us.”
The source added: “What kind of partnership is this?... And why do we have to give US$500 billion, there is no answer.”
The source said that Ukraine had offered amendments.
Ukraine is seeking security guarantees from the US as part of any deal signing away its natural resources and critical minerals.
The disagreement over the deal comes amid a war of words between Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump, who branded his Ukrainian counterpart a “dictator”
