Draft US minerals deal ‘does not protect’ Ukraine, Zelensky says

Munich — President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday a draft minerals deal with Washington did not contain the security provisions that Kyiv needed and three sources said the US had proposed taking ownership of 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals.

The negotiations illustrate the perilous diplomatic waters that Ukraine’s leader must navigate as he seeks to win the backing of Donald Trump and secure postwar security guarantees, as the US president pushes to end the war with Russia.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent presented a draft deal during a trip to Kyiv on Wednesday after Zelensky set out the contours of an agreement that could open up Ukraine’s vast natural wealth to US investment, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Ukraine, which is trying to forge ties with Trump by appealing to his penchant for a deal, has not disclosed the content of the discussions, though two Ukrainian sources said on Friday that Kyiv had given a revised draft to the US side.

Asked by reporters what the problem with the US document was, Zelensky said in his most candid comments to date: “it’s not in our interest today, not in [the] interest of [a] sovereign Ukraine”.

“There are not very concrete things about security guarantees in this document. That for me is very important: the connection between some kind of security guarantees and some kind of investment,” he continued.

Zelensky’s team has placed high importance on the need for Ukraine to receive guarantees from the US that would deter Russia from launching a new invasion once a peace deal is reached.

Bessent has said the deal could provide Ukraine with a “security shield” and intertwine Kyiv’s economy with the US.

Two sources familiar with the matter said Zelensky had declined to sign the deal on Wednesday when the US presented a document that proposed giving the US ownership of half of Ukraine’s critical minerals.

A third source described the US ask of Ukraine as very bold, focusing on at least 50% of critical minerals and similar amounts of other resources, over a long period.

One of the sources said that the document contained no security guarantees. The first two sources said that Zelensky believed the document had been drawn up by the US embassy in Kyiv.

Trump, who has not committed to continuing vital military aid to Ukraine, has said he wants $500bn in rare earth minerals from Kyiv and that Washington’s support needs to be “secured”.

The minerals in question could include rare earth varieties, as well as titanium, uranium and lithium.

Talks between Zelensky and a US delegation led by vice-president JD Vance ended at the Munich Security Conference on Friday without an announcement of a deal.

Earlier that day, Zelensky had voiced concern about the US proposal when he attended a 90-minute meeting with a bipartisan group of US senators behind closed doors, three sources familiar with his presentation said.

He “felt he was being asked unreasonably to sign something he hadn’t had a chance to read”, one of them said on condition of anonymity. “I don’t think he appreciated being given a take-it-or-leave-it thing.”

Zelensky discussed his own proposal for a mineral deal with the US, the source said, saying it was drafted to comply with the Ukrainian constitution.

Two sources characterised the proposal delivered by Bessent as “one-sided”, but declined to elaborate.

Democratic Senator Brian Schatz, asked after the meeting if Zelensky considered the US proposal one-sided, responded, “I think that’s fair to say.”

British foreign minister David Lammy, a close Kyiv ally, said on Saturday the best security guarantee for Ukraine against future Russian aggression was binding US industry, business and defence capability into its future.

“That is what will make Putin sit up and pay attention, and that is what’s attractive to a US president who knows how to get a good deal,” he said.

Reuters