US President Donald Trump confirmed that his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky will arrive in Washington on Friday to sign an agreement for the extraction of rare metals on the territory of Ukraine, world agencies reported, quoted by BTA.
Trump said this at a meeting of his cabinet at the White House today.
Ukraine will sign only a framework agreement to provide Washington with access to raw materials on Ukrainian territory, and a real contract will be signed later, Zelensky said. He added that "it is too early to talk about money because this is a framework agreement".
Finalizing the agreement will be "more difficult and more serious, as the next contract will concern" the funds that Ukraine will receive in exchange for its minerals, Zelensky said.
Shortly after his remarks, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said that although "the final version has been prepared de facto", his country would demand security guarantees from Washington before signing the contract.
"We do not intend to sign an agreement without security guarantees," Shmygal said.
Media reported that the agreement does not include US guarantees for Ukraine's security, but will give Washington access to raw materials on the country's territory as compensation for the help Ukraine receives to repel Russian armed forces that invaded the country three years ago, DPA noted.
US President Donald Trump said that Washington would not provide security guarantees to Ukraine, stressing that this is the responsibility of European countries.
"I will not make any guarantees about security... That is Europe's job", Trump said, quoted by CNN.
The American leader confirmed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would arrive in Washington on Friday, and the two would sign an agreement that would include issues related to rare earth metals and other strategic topics.
"Things are going very well with Russia for us. President Zelensky of Ukraine will arrive on Friday. That has been confirmed, and we will sign an agreement - a very big agreement," Trump said.
He also said that his administration was actively working to reach a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
"The most important thing is that we will make a deal with Russia and Ukraine to stop the killing. They will stop killing young Russian soldiers, young Ukrainian soldiers and other people in big cities and small cities. "This will be a major achievement because none of this happened until this administration came in," Trump stressed.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Washington on Thursday, where he will talk with Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine and the possibilities of ending the conflict.
After his meeting with Trump, Starmer will return to Britain, where on Sunday he will host a meeting with a number of European leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. They are expected to discuss Trump's policy towards Ukraine and the new realities of European security.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to visit Britain this weekend, the British PA news agency reported, citing unnamed sources.
Zelensky's visit to London will coincide with a meeting of European leaders, organized by Keir Starmer, where the topic of security and the future of the conflict in Ukraine will be a main focus.
Starmer is expected to discuss not only the American position after his meeting with Trump, but also the role of Europe in the process of a possible peace agreement.