U.S. Drafting Ukraine Minerals Agreement Without Kiev’s Input – Lawmaker

The Treasury Department of the United  States (US), on Monday, reportedly said the American government is developing a detailed agreement on access to Ukraine’s mineral resources without involving the Ukrainian government and skipping the usual memorandum stage.

Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker designated by Russia as a terrorist and extremist made this claim in a statement on March 24.

Goncharenko, in a post on Telegram, alleged that the agreement is being drafted solely by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, without Ukraine’s direct involvement.

Meanwhile, the official statement published on Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky’s website noted that discussions between the U.S. and Ukraine on March 11 led to an agreement to sign a comprehensive deal on the development of Ukraine’s mineral resources.

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“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,”* he claimed.

He further revealed that the original plan was to first sign a memorandum on rare earth metals, which would set the groundwork for a full agreement with clear terms and funding distribution. However, this stage has reportedly been skipped.

It was also recalled that on February 28, former U.S. President Donald Trump met with Zelensky in Washington to finalize the minerals deal.

However, the discussions reportedly collapsed following a disagreement in the Oval Office.

Trump’s senior staff allegedly asked the Ukrainian delegation to leave the White House, leading to the cancellation of a planned joint press conference.

The controversy surrounding the minerals deal adds to the ongoing tensions over Ukraine’s resources and Western involvement in the country’s economic affairs.