By NewsMata
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said a framework economic deal with the United States is ready – but security guarantees that Kyiv views as vital remain to be decided.
A senior Ukrainian official said late Tuesday that Kyiv had agreed on the terms of the deal, which would see the United States jointly develop Ukraine‘s mineral resources, and that Zelensky could sign it on Friday in Washington.
A full agreement could hinge on talks in Washington as early as Friday.
‘I would like to have this visit very much,’ Zelensky told reporters on Wednesday. ‘This is just a start, a framework, it can be a big success. The success will depend on our conversation with President Trump,’ he added.
Zelensky admitted that a major issue could scupper the agreement, saying that Ukraine needed to know where the United States stands on its continued military support.
He said he expects to have a wide-ranging substantive conversation with US President Donald Trump during a visit to Washington. ‘I want to coordinate with the US,’ Zelensky said.
Zelensky said that the main topics that he wants to discuss with Mr. Trump are whether the US plans to halt military aid and, if so, whether Ukraine would be able to purchase weapons directly from America.
Ukraine hopes the deal will improve relations with the Trump administration, which have soured in a war of words between Trump and Zelensky.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) has said a framework economic deal with the United States is ready – but security guarantees that Kyiv views as vital remain to be decided
He said he expects to have a wide-ranging substantive conversation with US President Donald Trump (pictured) during a visit to Washington. ‘I want to coordinate with the US,’ Zelensky said
Zelensky said that revenues from the resources deal would be deposited in a fund co-owned by Ukraine and the United States, and that Kyiv would not be ‘a debtor’ over aid provided under the Biden administration.
‘This would be unfair to us,’ Zelensky said.
He also said he would ask Trump whether Washington would halt aid altogether, and if so, whether Ukraine could still buy weapons from the United States.
Kyiv also wants security guarantees, though the current draft of the deal does not place any specific security commitments on the United States, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.
Zelensky also wants to know if Ukraine can use frozen Russian assets for weapons investments and whether Washington plans to lift sanctions on Russia.
Earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal confirmed that Ukraine and America have reached preliminary agreement on a broad economic deal that includes US access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals amid its war with Russia.
Mr. Shmyhal said on Ukrainian public television that after days of negotiations, Ukraine and the US will sign the preliminary agreement, but with further details of a full agreement – including US security guarantees that Kyiv officials view as vital – still to be worked out.
Since returning to office last month, Mr. Trump let Ukraine know that he wants something in return for tens of billions of dollars in US help to fend off the full-scale invasion that Russia launched just over three years ago on February 24 2022.
Zelensky and Trump pictured during their meeting in the Trump Tower in New York in September
An aerial view of an ilmenite open pit mine in a canyon in the central region of Kirovohrad, Ukraine on February 12
World leaders and dignitaries are in Kyiv on Monday to commemorate the three-year anniversary of war
Mr. Trump has abruptly ditched some previous Washington policies. He scrapped efforts to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin and cast doubt on US support for its European allies.
That has brought momentous geopolitical shifts that could reset the war’s path this year.
The preliminary agreement sets out the terms and conditions of an investment fund for the rebuilding of Ukraine, Mr. Shmyhal said.
(Credit: Mail Online