The American president said on Thursday that an agreement on the exploitation of Ukraine strategic mineral resources would be signed “next Thursday”.
President Donald Trump said this Thursday, April 17, that an agreement on the exploitation of Ukraine strategic mineral resources would be signed “next Thursday”.
“We have an agreement on minerals which, I think, will be signed Thursday (…) next Thursday. Soon. And I assume that they will respect the agreement. We will see. But we have an agreement on this point,” said journalists at the White House Donald Trump, who claims this agreement insistently to compensate for the American aid already paid to kyiv to face the Russian invasion.
Negotiations “progress well”, according to kyiv
For their part, Ukrainian officials welcomed “significant progress” on Wednesday in negotiations with the United States with a view to an agreement on the exploitation of Ukrainian strategic mineral resources.
“Our technical teams have worked together in a very substantial way on the agreement. There is significant progress,” said Ukrainian Minister of the economy Ioulia Svyrydenko on Telegram.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told him, in his daily address on social networks, of negotiations which “progress well”, evoking an “economic partnership agreement” without mentioning that it must relate to the exploitation of Ukrainian minerals.
“The fundamental legal aspects are almost finalized and, if everything takes place in such a rapid and constructive way, the agreement will bring economic results to our two countries,” he added.
kyiv received in March from the United States a new version of this document, which was described by several media and Ukrainian deputies as particularly disadvantageous for Ukraine. The two countries have since held several negotiations, including last week in Washington.
