Washington (TDI): The United States and Ukrainian officials have met to discuss the proposal of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals deal. The US Treasury Department confirmed the meeting, calling it “technical” in nature.
President Donald Trump’s administration has recently drafted a new proposal which is a better version of the original draft proposal, US official said.
The latest draft proposal would allow the United States a privileged access to the mineral deposits of Ukraine.
It also requires Ukraine to create a joint investment fund to place all income that would be generated from the exploitation of natural resources by Ukrainian and private companies.
It is important to note that the United States has been trying to bring Ukraine on the table to sign a rare-earth minerals deal, which would provide the US access to Ukraine’s minerals.
The US plans to use these rare earth minerals would be used in a variety of products including consumer electronics, electric vehicles, aircraft engines, and medical equipment.
Read More: Zelenskyy offers deal to Trump on critical minerals
However, under the newly drafted proposal, the US would not provide any security guarantees to Ukraine, which had remained a top priority of Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A prominent Russian energy company ‘Gazprom,’ which had taken control of Ukraine’s natural gas pipeline (connecting Ukraine to Europe), would fall under the control of the US government’s International Development Finance, under this new proposal.
The Ukrainian President has hired a law firm Hogan Lovells as an outside advisor on the minerals deal.
President Zelenskyy commented on Wednesday that the minerals deal should be profitable for both Ukraine and the United States, and it should help modernize Ukraine.
However, the tough conditions under the new draft proposal might hinder the finalization of the deal.
Read More: Zelenskyy Can Come Back When Ready for Peace: Trump
The President of Ukraine had earlier stated that he would agree to the minerals deal if the United States decided to provide security guarantees against Russian forces, who have occupied nearly 20% of Ukraine’s territory.
Ukrainian officials had also sent a list of targets to Washington, which it believed Russia had struck, in a direct violation of the 30-day Russia-Ukraine energy infrastructure ceasefire.
On the other hand, yesterday, the Russian Defense Minister also accused Ukraine of violating the partial ceasefire agreement by carrying out five attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, in the last 24 hours.
Javaria Khalid is a Web Contributor at The Diplomatic Insight Magazine. She specializes in covering geopolitical developments, international relations, diplomatic, and socio-economic developments in Europe and Pakistan.
