A deal between the US and Ukraine is close

USA
Minister: Agreement between the US and Ukraine "very close"

Anna Sjögren

Updated 17.52 | Published 16.21

Quick version

• The US and Ukraine are in the final stages of negotiations on a mineral agreement that could give the US access to Ukrainian rare earth metals worth $500 billion.
• Ukraine has not accepted the US demands and Zelenskyj has expressed that he does not want to bind the country economically for future generations.
• Zelenskyj wants security guarantees from the US before an agreement is signed, while fighting continues and Russia rejects a quick ceasefire.

The US and Ukraine are very close to signing a mineral agreement, according to several media outlets.

The US is said to be demanding rare earth metals worth $500 billion.

 

        

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“We hope that the US and Ukrainian leaders can sign and approve it in Washington as soon as possible,” writes Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna on X.

According to Stefanishyna, the Ukrainian and American teams are in the final stages of negotiating a mineral agreement between the two countries. She calls the discussions constructive.

The pressure is increasing

The US has increased its pressure on Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the past week. Among other things, Trump has called Zelenskyy a dictator and said that Ukraine started the war.

Donald Trump has increased the pressure on Ukraine and Zelenskyy in the past week. Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

At the same time, negotiations are underway between the countries to give the US access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals worth $500 billion, equivalent to approximately SEK 5,000 billion.

But Zelenskyj has not agreed to that amount, according to The Guardian. It is far more than the $100 billion in military aid the country has received from the US. The Telegraph has previously reported that the proposed agreement includes oil and gas assets, ports and other infrastructure.

– I am not going to sign something that ten generations of Ukrainians will have to pay for, he said.

Zelenskyj has said he is ready for a mineral agreement, but first the US must ensure that Russia ends the war. Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP

100 percent interest

According to the Ukrainian president, Washington wants two dollars back for every dollar it gives Ukraine, i.e. an interest rate of 100 percent.

Zelensky has previously said that he is ready for a deal, but that Washington must first ensure that Putin ends his war and that he wants security guarantees from the United States in a possible deal.

View of an open-pit mine in the central region of Kirovohrad in Ukraine in mid-February this year. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky / AP

At the same time, fighting is ongoing on the ground. Russia recently said that a quick ceasefire in the war is out of the question while peace negotiations begin.

– We will stop hostilities only when these negotiations produce a solid and sustainable result that suits the Russian Federation, he said at a press conference in Ankara on Monday.