President Volodymyr Zelenskiy explained why Ukraine did not sign an agreement with the United States on rare earth metals. The reason is that the document does not protect Ukrainian interests.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this on the second day of the Munich Security Conference.
“I am the president and I will have an impact on the quality of this document. That is why I did not allow ministers to sign it. It is not ready, it does not protect us and our interests. It is very important for me to talk about investments. Based on the profit from them, we can think about how to distribute this profit if everything is connected with security guarantees. And I don’t see this connection in the document yet,” Zelenskiy explained.
Zelenskiy noted that this issue is not in the interests of sovereign Ukraine at this time. He emphasized that the country’s resources belong to the people, not the head of state, and will remain at the disposal of future generations. At the same time, he said, cooperation with partners and business implies profit, and in some cases, exclusive conditions for certain participants.
According to Radio Svoboda, citing Washington Post political commentator Josh Rogin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy refused the proposal of the US Congressional delegation to sign a memorandum under which the United States would receive 50% of all future mineral reserves in Ukraine.