Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected a US offer to take over around 50 percent of the rights to the rare earth minerals in his country and tries to negotiate better business, according to several people who are familiar with the matter.
Finance Minister Scott Bessent offered Zelenskyy the deal during a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, which suggested that President Donald Trump had proposed that the United States had half a trillion dollar worth half a trillion dollar for the resources of Ukraine in exchange for his Support for the country torn by the war.
Zelenskyy wants American and European security guarantees to be bound directly to a business with mineral reserves, four people who are familiar with the negotiations of US Ukraine.
He is also interested in the fact that other countries, including the EU countries, are involved in the future exploitation of natural resources.
However, the deal proposed by Trump and proposed by Bessent only referred to the United States, which received the Ukrainian resources for previous military support in return, and, according to a person familiar with the document, did not contain any suggestions for similar future support.
“We are still talking,” said Zelenskyy in Munich on Saturday. “I had different dialogues.”
Zelenskyy spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the conference and said that it was “not in our interest today. . . Not in the interest of sovereign Ukraine ”to agree to the US business as it is currently.
A high -ranking Ukrainian official announced the Financial Times that Kyiv “tried to negotiate a better business”.
During his visit to the presidential office in Kyiv this week, Bessent brought a document that Trump wanted Zelenskyy to return to Washington, according to five.
In conversation with reporters before he and Zelenskyy discussed the deal privately for about an hour, it described it as a “economic agreement” with Kyiv to “further connect our economies”.
The Trump government would “stand until the end (with Kyiv) by increasing our economic commitment”, which “deliver a long-term security sign for all Ukrainians” as soon as the Russia’s war has ended, Bessent said.
“When we looked at the details, there was nothing there (about future US security guarantees),” said another Ukrainian official from the FT.
When asked whether it was a bad business for Ukraine, a third Ukrainian official, who was familiar with the proposal, said it was “a Trump deal”. “This is Trump -Deal -Making,” said the official. “It’s difficult.”
The main concern of Ukraine is the lack of connection with wider security guarantees, three people who have checked the proposal.
The Ukrainian officials asked how the agreement would contribute to the long-term security of their country, but it was only announced that they would ensure an American presence on the Ukrainian soil-a vague answer, which left important questions unanswered.
Besser argued that the mere presence of Americans who secure the locations of mineral deposits would be sufficient to prevent Moscow.
Another sticking point is the specification of the document that New York would be the responsibility in which disputes about mineral rights are included, two people familiar with the matter.
A person near Zelenskyy said that the US ambassador Bridget Brink presented him with the document that contained the proposal shortly before Bessent’s arrival in Kyiv without warning.
Kyiv did not believe that the proposal according to New York was quite enforceable, the person said.
The document shared by Brink was the same that Besser later gave Zelenskyy, according to the person. “Draft on February 7, 2025” was led. Zelenskyy’s team was announced that he would sign it on Wednesday during the visit to Besset.
The US message did not immediately answer a request for comment.
Ukraine supports the concept of exchange of Ukrainian resources against future security, said the person near Zelenskyy. However, the US proposal only referred in the past, not future and not future, and a formal bilateral international agreement is the only way to ensure that the rights and interests of both sides are protected, they added.
After her meeting, Zelenskyy said reporters that he would consider the proposal, but would not sign anything at that time.
“We will check this document and work quickly to ensure that our teams achieve an agreement. The United States is our strategic partner and we are obliged to complete the details, ”said Zelenskyy at the time.
Bessent said after the meeting that Trump wanted the deal to be completed.
“I think this document is important from President Trump’s point of view to solve this conflict (with Russia) as soon as possible,” he said. “We will offer people in Ukraine guarantees for American support. I think this is a very strong signal for Russia about our intentions. “
Zelenskyy said that he wanted to discuss the prospect of a mineral law contract at the Munich Security Conference, which takes place this weekend.
At a meeting with the US Vice President JD Vance in Munich on Friday, he made a counter offer, which he also discussed with the US legislators on the edge of the forum.
In a speech in Munich on Friday, Zelenskyy said that his legal team would be better checked by the document presented in Kyiv in order to offer advice and suggest potential changes. He described it as a memorandum between the USA and Ukraine and not as a formal security agreement.
Zelenskyy did not sign the deal because he also wanted to be involved in the recovery of the minerals, including other European nations, a European official reported on the meetings.
“They are intensive pressure from the Americans,” said the official.
The US proposal corresponds to a “victory plan” that Zelenskyy’s team has developed since last summer to deepen the relationship with Trump administration by using the US access to critical minerals that were used in high-tech industry enable access.
Ukraine has valuable minerals that are estimated to be worth several trillion dollars, including lithium, titanium and graphite, which are of crucial importance for the production of high-tech products. However, many of these resources are in areas that are either under Russian crew or are endangered by the advancing forces of the Kremlin because they are located near the front in the east of Ukraine.
