Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has refused to sign an agreement that would have granted the United States 50 percent of all future rare earth metal reserves in Ukraine, according to reports following a meeting between Zelensky and US leaders at the Munich Security Conference on February 14.
Zelensky "politely declined" when members of the US Congress proposed the agreement, the Washington Post reported.
Zelensky and US Vice President J.D. Vance also discussed the critical minerals agreement at the conference, but their meeting ended without any announcement.
"Our teams will continue to work on the document," Zelensky said at the IX. "We are ready to move as quickly as possible towards a real and guaranteed peace. We deeply appreciate the determination of President (Donald) Trump, which can help stop the war and provide justice and security guarantees for Ukraine."
Trump said last week that he wanted Ukraine to supply the United States with rare earth minerals as a form of payment for American financial support.
"We want to make a deal with Ukraine where they will provide what we give them with their rare earths and other things," Trump said at the White House on February 3, discussing how his administration intends to fulfill a campaign promise to quickly end the war in Ukraine. Dozens of rare earth minerals are considered critical to the U.S. economy and national defense, and Ukraine has large reserves of many of them.
Zelensky said on February 4 that Ukraine would be "open to the fact that all this can be developed together, together with our partners who can help us protect our countries."
At their meeting in Munich, Ukraine gave the US delegation a revised agreement on rare earth metals amid concerns in Kiev about the US version that was presented to Ukraine on February 12th.
A revised draft agreement could open up its vast resources of key minerals to American investment, according to Ukraine.
Two members of the Ukrainian delegation told Reuters that "some details" still needed to be worked out. It was not immediately clear what the key issues were.
The US version of the draft was presented by Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who traveled to Kiev earlier this week with the aim of reaching an agreement in Munich.
Besant told Fox Business Network that the Trump administration's plan to end the war would "intertwine" the Ukrainian economy with the United States and ensure that "American taxpayers get a return on the money they invested."
In a 90-minute meeting with a bipartisan group of US senators behind closed doors in Munich, Zelensky expressed concern about the US proposal presented by Besant, according to Reuters, citing three sources familiar with his presentation.
He "felt he was being unreasonably asked to sign something he hadn't had a chance to read," said one of the sources, who asked not to be named. "It seems to me he wasn't happy about being given an ultimatum," the source added.
Zelensky discussed his proposal for a minerals agreement with the United States, the source said, saying the draft was drafted in accordance with the Ukrainian constitution.
Two other sources characterized the proposal submitted by Besent as "one-sided," but declined to elaborate.
Zelensky's office said after the talks that Ukraine and the United States "agreed to continue work on developing a document on economic cooperation between the two countries." The statement also reiterated Ukraine's demand for "real security guarantees."
Zelensky said at the IX that he also met with a delegation of members of the US House of Representatives led by Representative Michael Turner (Republican of Ohio) and briefed the members on the situation on the battlefield, the results of the Kursk operation, and the threats posed by North Korea's participation in combat operations.
He stressed the need for "reliable security guarantees," adding: "It is important to achieve a guaranteed and lasting peace as soon as possible through our joint strength."
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