Zelensky not prepared to sign minerals deal with US

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference with President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen in Kyiv on May 9, 2023. — AFP

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “not ready” to sign a minerals deal with the United States, a source told AFP on Saturday, raising doubts about the proposed agreement as a rift between the two countries deepened.

Since taking office last month, President Donald Trump has upended US foreign policy, making diplomatic overtures towards the Kremlin while demanding Ukraine give up its rare minerals to compensate for the wartime aid it received under Joe Biden.

Trump´s national security adviser predicted Friday that Zelensky would sign a minerals deal soon, but its contours have not been made public and Zelensky has pushed back at any arrangement that would mean “selling” his country. “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.

Kyiv wants any agreement signed with the US to include security guarantees. The negotiations between the two countries come amid a deepening war of words between Trump and Zelensky that has raised alarm in Kyiv and Europe.

On Wednesday, Trump branded his Ukrainian counterpart a “dictator” and called for him to “move fast” to end the war, a day after Russian and US officials held talks in Saudi Arabia without Kyiv. On Friday, the US proposed a United Nations resolution on the Ukraine conflict that omitted any mention of Kyiv´s territory occupied by Russia, diplomatic sources told AFP.

Trump has asked for “$500 billion worth” of rare earth minerals to make up for aid given to Kyiv — a price tag that Ukraine has balked at and that does not correspond with published US aid figures.

“There are no American obligations in the agreement regarding guarantees or investments, everything about them is very vague, and they want to extract $500 billion from us,” the Ukrainian source told AFP of the proposed deal.

“What kind of partnership is this? … And why do we have to give $500 billion, there is no answer,” the source said, adding that Ukraine had proposed amendments to the draft.