Trump is not giving up and pushing for a minerals deal: the idea of a “simplified” agreement is voiced
20 February 10:03
The Trump administration is not giving up its attempts to conclude a deal on Ukrainian minerals. After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the previous “offer,” Washington is seeking to conclude a “simplified” deal. Simplification means that the agreement will be concluded in general, without details, and detailed terms will be discussed later. Reuters reports this with reference to two sources familiar with the matter, "Komersant Ukrainian" informs.
According to the previous American proposal, Washington would have received 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals, including graphite, uranium, titanium, and lithium.
This episode clearly showed that reaching a full agreement will take time, the sources said. However, US President Donald Trump wants to have a pact with Ukraine before potentially authorizing additional military support for Kyiv or moving on to trying to organize formal peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is in Kyiv this week to discuss the parameters of a revised pact and what Ukraine needs in exchange for signing it. Zelenskiy said he would meet with Kellogg on Thursday.
Asked if U.S. officials would continue to push for a deal, the Trump adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said of Zelenskiy:
“We definitely need to bring this guy back to reality.”
The sources said it was important for Trump to be able to publicly signal to the American people that the United States was repaying the aid it had given.
It is unclear how the original US “offer” was worded: as compensation for past or future arms shipments. But Zelenskiy said it was too focused on U.S. interests and contained no security guarantees for Kyiv.
“I cannot sell our country,”
– he told reporters on Wednesday.
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A third source with knowledge of the matter said Ukraine is ready to strike a deal with the Trump administration. Another source also said that Kyiv is ready for a deal, but that it should not look as “predatory” as the deal the US initially proposed.
The details of the US discussions on a possible minerals deal, including who within the administration helped draft the original proposal, are unknown.
The revised approach is just one of several being discussed in the White House on how to conclude a deal with Kyiv in the coming weeks – an unusually fast timetable for a complex sector where deals are typically struck by private companies and state institutions, not governments.
Trump on Wednesday reiterated his frustration that most of the U.S. aid has been grants, while Europe, he said, has mostly provided loans.
“The United States doesn’t get anything back, so they get their money back,” he said,
– he said.
He also said that Kyiv had actually agreed to the deal, but then changed its mind.
“We had a deal, but they broke it two days ago,”
– Trump said.
As a reminder, in exchange for the military support provided, US President Donald Trump demanded $500 billion worth of rare earth metals from Ukraine. He said that the US should have access to Ukraine’s natural resources, regardless of whether Kyiv manages to reach a peace deal with Russia. Ukraine sent the US its version of the agreement, but the US rejected it, accusing Ukraine of refusing to sign the agreement and calling the decision short-sighted.
President Zelenskyy said that the US has actually provided less than $100 billion in aid to Ukraine, namely $67 billion in weapons and another $31.5 billion in direct financial assistance.
