French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu said that Paris is discussing with Kyiv the development of Ukrainian minerals for the needs of the French defense industry.
This is reported by Franceinfo.
According to Sebastian Lecornu, negotiations with Ukraine have been ongoing since October 2024.
"It was Volodymyr Zelensky who, during his trip to Paris last fall, included the issue of raw materials in his victory plan... He made several proposals not only to the US, but also to France," the minister added.
France can use Ukrainian minerals to produce military equipment. The country hopes to diversify imports of the important raw material in the coming years.
The US also wants 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, the US President Donald 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 listed there.” After that, the agreement was sent for revision.
On February 26, Ukrainian media published the full text of the agreement. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that the framework agreement did not specify all the security guarantees that Ukraine wanted. However, the text states that the United States supports “Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees necessary for a sustainable peace”.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.