The US President Donald Trump said that Washington is not going to provide "too many" security guarantees to Ukraine.
Trump informed about this during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on February 26.
The American leader is convinced that Europe should provide support to Kyiv. This is in the interests of the region, because European countries are Ukraineʼs neighbours, he says.
"But we will make efforts to ensure that everything goes as it should. We will remain partners with Ukraine, we need rare earth metals, and they have a lot of them," said the President of the United States.
Donald Trump says that after the deal is signed, Washington aims to get back the $350 billion allocated to Ukraine and earn even more in the future. In addition, the leader supports initiatives by France and Great Britain to deploy their peacekeepers on the territory of Ukraine after the war ends.
What preceded
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on February 26 that Ukraine and the United States had reached a framework agreement on minerals. It does not have to be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament. Next, Ukraine and the United States will continue to work on a detailed agreement, which will then be signed by both parties and ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Here is the full text of the framework agreement, which was published by Ukrainian media.
The day before, the US President Donald Trump said that Zelensky could arrive at the White House as early as February 28. But Trump did not specify whether Zelensky had received an official invitation.
Zelensky said he "really wants" to visit the United States:
"We were offered a visit. But I want to know what format and when, the offices are working on it. There is a working date. What the US president said about Friday [February 28]," Zelensky said.
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 because it would not protect Ukraine’s interests — it had no connection to investments, profits, or security guarantees.
Previously, Trump 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 said it was ready to sign an agreement on rare earth metals, but Kyiv needed security guarantees. Zelensky added: “The document was clear in only one thing — we must give 50% of everything that is listed there.”
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