The United States offered Ukraine "a colonial agreement" on exchanging Ukrainian rare earth minerals for U.S. military aid, a former senior Ukrainian official told the Associated Press (AP) on Feb. 16.
The comment comes after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a draft of the agreement to President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb. 12. Zelensky refused to sign the document, saying it did not sufficiently protect Ukraine's interests.
"For me is very important the connection between some kind of security guarantees and some kind of investment," Zelensky said.
The president did not give details as to the problems with the document.
"It's a colonial agreement and Zelensky cannot sign it," a former senior Ukrainian official told the AP. The former official spoke under the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely.
The current and former senior Ukrainian officials who spoke to the AP said that the U.S. delegates at the Munich Security Conference did not offer any security guarantees in exchange for Ukraine's rare earth minerals.
According to the senior Ukrainian official, the U.S. delegates were more focused on the commercial aspects of a future partnership and did not have "ready answers" to how Ukraine's mineral deposits could be protected in the event of ongoing Russian aggression.
White House National Security Council Spokesperson Brian Hughes said Zelensky's refusal to sign the agreement was "short-sighted."
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz also encouraged Zelensky to take the deal in comments to Fox News on Feb. 16.
"Zelensky would be very wise to enter into this agreement with the United States," he said.
"We're talking about growing the pie for the Ukrainian economy."
Waltz has previously said that the U.S. needs to "recoup" the costs of former military aid packages to Ukraine.
The U.S. is looking to obtain 50% of Ukraine's rare earth minerals, NBC reported on Feb. 15. Washington has signaled openness to deploy American troops to guard these resources if there is a deal with Russia to end the war, unnamed American officials said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in early February that he wanted to strike a deal with Ukraine involving access to rare earth minerals in exchange for continued aid. Trump later claimed that Kyiv has "essentially agreed" to a $500 billion resource deal.
Ukraine has signaled that it is open to developing a partnership in resource extraction with the U.S. and other partners in exchange for security guarantees.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
