Ukraine won't sign minerals deal with US if it threatens EU membership, Zelensky says
Ukraine will not sign a minerals deal with the U.S. if it threatens its accession to the European Union, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 28.
Zelensky's remarks came a day after details of a new alleged draft of a mineral agreement between Kyiv and Washington emerged. The Financial Times reported on March 27 that the latest version of the agreement proposed by the U.S. includes terms that would grant Washington unprecedented control over Ukraine's natural resources through a joint investment fund.
Ukrainian online newspaper European Pravda reported that the deal may contradict Ukraine's EU accession due to severe restrictions that affect Ukraine's economic sovereignty.
"The Constitution of Ukraine makes it clear that our course is towards the EU," Zelensky told reporters. "Nothing that could threaten Ukraine’s accession to the EU can be accepted."
According to Zelensky, Ukraine officially received a new version of the minerals deal from the U.S. on March 28.
Natalia YermakZelensky will consider the deal when there are "no relevant legislative threats," adding that lawyers should compare the all versions of the deal and give their assessment.
"There are a lot of things (in the new version of the deal) that had not been discussed before. And there are also some things that the parties had previously rejected," the president added.
Washington had initially planned to sign the agreement on Feb. 28, but the process was delayed after a heated dispute between U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelensky at the White House.
Zelensky confirmed on March 25 that the U.S. had proposed a "major" minerals deal based on a previous framework agreement, but he did not specify a signing timeline. A day earlier, Trump had said he expected the deal to be signed "soon."
According to the initial version, the agreement would establish a fund to which Ukraine would contribute 50% of proceeds from the future extraction of state-owned resources, including oil, gas, and logistics infrastructure.
The version Kyiv approved earlier does not include security guarantees but says that the fund "will be reinvested at least annually in Ukraine to promote the safety, security, and prosperity of Ukraine."
The White House has described the minerals deal as a mechanism for the U.S. to "recoup" some of the financial aid it has provided to Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Yana Prots
