European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stephane Séjourn, during a visit to Kyiv on February 24, proposed an agreement on “critical materials” to Ukrainian officials and called it a “win-win” for both sides.
This is reported by Barronʼs.
"Twenty-one of the 30 critical materials that Europe needs, Ukraine can provide in a mutually beneficial partnership," said Stephane Séjourn.
And he added that the European Union will never demand an agreement that is not beneficial to both sides.
The EU proposal comes as the United States is demanding a mineral deal from Ukraine. The US President Donald Trump wants access to Ukraine’s mineral resources as “compensation” for military aid provided to Ukraine by the Joe Biden administration. Trump has insisted that the US deserves “payback” for helping defend Ukraine from Russian invasion.
At the same time, the draft agreement from the US does not mention any military commitments from the States, writes Axios. The document focuses on the creation of a Reconstruction Investment Fund. Ukraine is to contribute $500 billion to the fund, with Ukraineʼs contribution to be twice as large as the US contribution, but the agreement does not provide that this amount should be paid to the States.
In addition, 50% of Ukraineʼs revenues (net of operating expenses) from "extractable materials" — including minerals, oil, and gas — must be paid into the fund.
The text also contains provisions on projects in territories "temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, in the event of the deoccupation of such territories".
CNN, citing sources, notes that problematic technical details of the agreement, such as security guarantees, have been left for further discussion.
What kind of agreement on Ukrainian minerals?
The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brought a pilot draft of a minerals agreement to Ukraine on February 12. Washington had hoped that Kyiv would sign it immediately. President Zelensky said that he had banned the agreement from being signed because it would not protect Ukraine’s interests — it had no connection to investments, profits, or security guarantees.
Previously, Trump had stated that Ukraine had "essentially agreed" to transfer half a trillion dollars worth of rare earth metals to Washington as payment for American military aid.
Ukraine is ready to sign an agreement on rare earth metals, but Kyiv needs security guarantees, and they were not in the agreement. Zelensky added: "The document was clear in only one thing — we must give 50% of everything that is listed there."
After refusing to sign the document, Washington made the agreement even tougher, writes the NYT. Now the US demands 100% of revenues from natural resources, including minerals, gas and oil, as well as revenues from ports and other infrastructure.
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