Negotiations between Kiev and Washington on the rare earth minerals deal will continue next week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.
„I think we will continue these consultations next week. We will look for the best solution, because there are principles that are important for Ukraine.
This agreement cannot contradict our aspirations for Europe and our association agreement with the EU. "This is the first point on the list of red lines," he said in an interview with Bloomberg.
A delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Sviridenko will hold technical talks with the US side on April 11-12 to discuss the terms of the agreement on Ukrainian mineral resources.
The signing of the minerals agreement was interrupted on February 28 after a dispute between Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump at the White House. On March 27, Kiev announced that it had received a new version of the document from Washington.
The new draft obliges Kiev to compensate for US aid in the amount of more than $120 billion.
The United States will gain control over an investment fund created for the reconstruction of Ukraine, which will collect deductions from Kiev's income from license payments and rents from mineral extraction.
Trump recently indicated that if Zelensky tries to “walk away from the deal“, he “will have big problems“.