U.S.-Ukraine mineral deal advances amid intelligence boost
Ukraine has obtained a new proposal from the United States concerning American access to its mineral resources. Simultaneously, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that the country has gained broader access to intelligence information from additional international partners.
Key points
- New agreement: Ukraine has obtained a new version of the agreement concerning access to Ukrainian mineral resources, as President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed.
- Access to data: Ukraine has gained enhanced intelligence data from European partners.
- Political context: Previously, Donald Trump accused Zelensky of breaching the agreement about revenue shares from rare earth metals. Earlier discussions between the leaders of the USA and Ukraine ended in a disagreement, and the contract was not signed.
Rare earth metals in Ukraine: USA sends new agreement
The President of Ukraine stated that the new version of the agreement regarding the use of rare earth metals by the United States in Ukraine arrived in Kyiv on Friday.
Volodymyr Zelensky emphasised that Ukraine has secured an arrangement with European partners, giving it greater access to their intelligence data.
It should be noted that last Monday, Donald Trump mentioned in an interview with journalists following a Cabinet meeting that the United States had reached an agreement with Ukraine regarding the rare earth minerals deal.
The US president said at the time that the country anticipates signing an agreement with Ukraine regarding access to key minerals and natural resources, as reported by Reuters and the Kyiv Independent.
The agreement mentioned by Trump reached Kyiv on Friday.
Conflict over rare earth metals: Trump accuses Zelensky
At the end of February, Trump accused Zelensky of violating an agreement that was supposed to entitle the United States to a 50% share in the revenues from rare earth metals, as compensation for the assistance provided so far.
He publicly warned that unless the agreement were reinstated, "the situation would not be pleasing to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky". Trump once again called for elections in a country under martial law and labelled Zelensky a "dictator" who involved the US in a "war that could not be won."
Rare earth metals, also known as rare earth elements, comprise 17 chemical elements, including scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium.
