Ukraine has reached an agreement with the US for Ukrainian rare earth elements. Negotiations on the deal caused tension between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, the Ukrainian publication "Kiev Independent" writes, BTA writes in the press review.
Agreement is key to providing Kiev with "military equipment and the ability to continue fighting", Donald Trump said on February 25, quoted by the publication. In a statement from the Oval Office, he said that under the agreements, Ukraine receives billions of dollars in aid and "a lot of equipment".
"Kiev Independent" specifies that it is not clear from the US president's statement whether he was referring to previous or future military aid packages.
Asked by journalists whether the supply of weapons and ammunition to Kiev would continue, Trump replied that they could "continue for some time, maybe until we make a deal with Russia".
The White House said that the agreement was necessary so that the US could "repay" the funds it provided to Ukraine in the form of military aid during the last three years of Russia's full-scale war.
The British newspaper "The Guardian" noted that Zelensky is likely to visit Washington on Friday to sign the agreement, which he previously rejected.
"I hear he's coming on Friday. Of course, that's fine with me if he wants to do it. And he wants to sign (the agreement) with me. It's a big deal, a very big deal," the British publication quoted Trump as telling reporters at the White House.
"Financial Times" reveals a few more details about the deal. It envisages the creation of a fund into which Ukraine will contribute 50% of the proceeds from "future monetization" of the state's rare earth elements, as well as oil and gas and related logistics. The fund will invest in projects in Ukraine.
The agreement excludes natural elements that already contribute to the Ukrainian state treasury, meaning it will not cover the existing activities of "Naftogaz" or "Ukrnafta" - the largest producers of gas and oil in Ukraine.
But the agreement omits any reference to U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kiev initially insisted on in exchange for agreeing to the deal. It also leaves important questions about what share the U.S. will have in the newly created fund and the terms of “joint ownership,” which must be specified in subsequent agreements.
The White House argues that the mere existence of U.S. economic interests should be enough for Ukraine, which is facing a harsh reality: the United States wants to be paid in exchange for helping the country repel an invader, the newspaper noted. "New York Times".
"What could be better for Ukraine than to be an economic partner of the United States?", said US National Security Adviser Mike Walz.
The explicit demand for access to the revenues from Ukraine's natural resources while the country is in dire straits "feels like extortion", Virginia Paige Fortna, a political scientist at Columbia University and a leading expert on peace agreements, told the publication.
She and other experts said they could not recall another instance in which the United States or any other country has received money or resources from its own allies during a war.
Trump's "transactional diplomacy" sends a message to allies that the United States cannot be trusted to help its friends or fulfill its obligations. And that shows their opponents that Washington is willing to give up long-term strategic interests in favor of short-term victories, experts explain.
Meanwhile, the EU is pushing for its own deal to share Ukraine's natural resources, writes the British newspaper "Telegraph".
European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stephane Séjournais quietly urged Europe to strike an alternative agreement during his visit to Kiev two days ago to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Séjournais's comments are likely to be interpreted by Washington as an attempt to pressure Trump's proposed agreement. Any attempts by Brussels to interfere in the deal are likely to further exacerbate transatlantic tensions over US efforts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
On Tuesday, the European Commission sought to downplay the commissioner's comments, saying that "no proposal was presented" during his meetings in Kiev.
A spokesman for the EC said that Sejourne referred to the memorandum of understanding between Brussels and Kiev on critical earth elements, signed in 2021, and added: "this is about cooperation with Ukraine, not competition with the United States".
"The Washington Post" added on the subject that Moscow is also open to giving the United States access to Russian rare earth elements.
"We would be ready to offer (cooperation) to our American partners - when I say partners, I mean not only administrative, government structures, but also companies - if they show interest in working together," said Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We certainly have a lot of (natural resources) and I want to emphasize this - significantly more elements of this kind than Ukraine. Russia is one of the leading (countries) in reserves of these rare earth metals," he pointed out.