EU offers Ukraine alternative «mutually beneficial» agreement on minerals

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Stéphane Sejourne, photo: Getty Images

The European Union has offered Ukrainian officials an alternative deal on access to Ukraine's mineral resources amid Kyiv's negotiations on similar cooperation with the United States.

According to Politico, citing Agence France-Presse, during the visit of the EU leadership to Ukraine, timed to coincide with the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian side was handed a European version of the minerals agreement.

European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stefan Sejourne noted that Ukraine could provide Europe with 21 of the 30 critical materials it needs. At the same time, he stressed the importance of equal partnership between the parties.

«The added value that Europe offers is that we will never demand a deal that is not mutually beneficial,» said Stefan Sejourne.

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Earlier, Donald Trump said that he would like to conclude a deal under which Ukraine would supply the US with rare earth minerals needed for electronics production in exchange for US aid.

However, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticised Donald Trump's proposal to provide Ukraine with military assistance in exchange for its minerals.

Subsequently, US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine had agreed to provide Washington with access to rare earth minerals worth $500 billion.

It should be noted, however, that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to sign the agreement on granting the US access to rare earth minerals. The White House called this decision «short-sighted».

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the US might consider investing in mining on the Black Sea shelf, which is currently under Russian occupation.

However, Donald Trump later stated that he intended to renew the agreement with Ukraine on rare earth minerals.

US National Security Advisor Mike Volz called on Kyiv «to tone it down» and sign the mining agreement, which had been previously rejected by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Then, the administration of US President Donald Trump sent Ukraine an updated version of the mining agreement, which took into account some of Kyiv's comments.

Later, the Office of the President of Ukraine reported that the document still contains clauses that raise certain questions, particularly in the context of security guarantees.

Subsequently, US President Donald Trump said he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign the minerals agreement this week or next week.