US, Ukraine set to sign minerals deal |
KYIV:
Ukraine said on Wednesday it was set to approve a framework minerals deal with the United States but that its success would depend on talks with President Donald Trump.
The deal, under which Kyiv would hand some revenue from its mineral resources to a fund jointly controlled by the US, is central to Ukrainian attempts to win strong support from Trump as he seeks a quick end to Russia’s war, with US-Russian talks that have so far excluded Kyiv set to continue on Thursday.
Trump confirmed Zelenskiy would visit Washington on Friday but suggested Washington would not be making far-reaching security guarantees. Kyiv has been seeking US security guarantees as part of the deal, cast by Trump as a payment for US aid to Kyiv during the war.
“I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond – very much. We’re going to have Europe do that,” Trump said. Zelenskiy said the most important thing was the current draft did not cast Ukraine as a debtor that would have to pay back hundreds of billions of dollars for past military assistance.
“This agreement could be part of future security guarantees… an agreement is an agreement, but we need to understand the broader vision,” he said in Kyiv. “This deal could be a great success or it could pass quietly. And the big success depends on our conversation with President Trump.”
He said it would be a success if the U.S. becomes a provider of security guarantees for Ukraine, which wants protection from future Russian attacks if a peace deal is reached. Fighting has continued in Ukraine during the flurry of diplomacy, with Ukraine frequently coming under attack from Russian missiles and drones in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.
Questions over washington trip
Trump said on Tuesday that Zelenskiy wanted to come to Washington on Friday to sign a “very big deal”. Zelenskiy said both sides were still working on organizing the visit and a White House official on Wednesday raised doubts about whether the visit would go ahead, but Trump later said again that Zelenskiy would visit on Friday.
Trump has been fiercely critical of Zelenskiy as he upended US policy on the war, calling him a “dictator” and ending a campaign to isolate Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022. Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 12 and a Russian-US meeting took place in Saudi Arabia on February 18.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russian and US diplomats would meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss resolving bilateral disputes that are part of a wider dialogue the sides see as crucial to ending the Ukraine war.
Lavrov again ruled out “any options” for European peacekeepers being sent to Ukraine although Trump has said some form of peacekeeping troops are needed in Ukraine if an agreement to end the conflict is struck. “Nobody has asked us about this,” Lavrov said during a visit to Qatar.
‘Preliminary’ agreement
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Washington would commit to supporting Kyiv’s efforts to obtain security guarantees under the finalised deal, though the Americans offered no security pledges of their own.
Shmyhal said Ukraine’s government would authorise the agreed wording later on Wednesday so that it could be signed. He described it as a “preliminary” agreement.
