Volodymyr Zelensky has said the US is constantly changing the terms of a key minerals agreement as part of peace deal, expressing frustration over lack of a final agreement on Ukraine’s rare earth deal pitched by Washington.
“At the end of the day, they constantly change the terms. I am not going to Washington because there’s no issue on the agenda,” Mr Zelensky said after the Leaders’ Summit on Support for Ukraine in France
Donald Trump has intensified his demands for US control over Ukraine’s rare minerals and energy assets, according to a fresh proposal seen by multiple media outlets.
The new deal would see the US receive all royalties from such assets until Ukraine has paid off at least $100bn of war debt to the US, and hand Kyiv just 50 per cent thereafter, while giving the US a veto over the sale of any such assets to other nations, according to reports.
It came as Emmanuel Macron announced that a British-French military delegation will be sent to Ukraine to scout Kyiv’s needs and what can be done to support its army – and that troops would be deployed as a “reassurance force” to uphold any potential peace deal agreed with Russia.
