The U.S. Treasury Department has said it was developing a detailed agreement on access to Ukraine’s mineral resources without involving Kiev and skipping the memorandum stage.
A Ukrainian lawmaker, Oleksiy Goncharenko (designated by Russia as a terrorist and extremist) said on Monday.
Following talks on March 11, the U.S. and Ukraine agreed to sign a comprehensive agreement on the development of Ukraine’s mineral resources.
This is according to an official communique published on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office website.
“Now, a full agreement will be signed. It is being drafted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The document will be about 40 pages long.
“The Ukrainian side has not yet seen the document and is not involved in its development,’’ Goncharenko said on Telegram.
The original plan was to first sign a memorandum on rare earth metals, which would lay the foundation for a full agreement with clear terms and funding distribution, Goncharenko added.
However, he claims that officials have decided to skip this step.
On Feb. 28, U.S. President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington to finalise the minerals deal.
However, the discussions fell apart following a disagreement in the Oval Office.
Trump’s senior staff requested the Ukrainian delegation to exit the White House and canceled a planned joint press conference.
Although the deal had already been approved by the Ukrainian government, Trump decided to cancel the signing. (RIA/NAN)
