Bessent pressured Zelenskyy during meeting, giving only one hour to review mineral resources agreement – NBC News
During a bilateral meeting in Kyiv between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the latter gave the Ukrainian leader only an hour to familiarize himself with the agreement on rare earth resources.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by NBC News.
According to five U.S. officials and one other person with knowledge of the discussion, when Zelenskyy said he needed time to study the proposal, Bessent told him he had an hour to sign it or risk canceling his upcoming meetings with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Mark Rubio.
Bessent then explained to Zelenskyy that the rare earth minerals agreement with the Trump administration was a critical component of building a strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine. He also promised that it would help guarantee Ukraine's security after the war.
However, Zelenskyy refused to sign the document. As a result, his meetings with American representatives were postponed but not canceled.
After Zelenskyy initially said that the United States and Ukraine were still discussing the proposal, he made it clear that he would not agree to the current version because it does not sufficiently protect his country.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Bessent said he believes Zelenskiy will eventually sign a US agreement on Ukraine's rare earth minerals, saying it will deter future Russian aggression after the war is over.
A White House spokesperson said that "Bessent's proposal is a recognition that Ukraine's ability to defend itself has been largely provided by American taxpayers."
"This proposal is about returning some of those funds," the official said, "and recognizing that when peace comes, Ukraine has the potential to strengthen its economic position through partnership with the United States.
Agreement on minerals with the United States
As a reminder, Trump has said that he wants to sign a $500 million deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on access to rare earth resources and natural gas in Ukraine in exchange for security guarantees in any potential peace settlement.
President Zelenskyy said that the agreement with the US on minerals would be signed at the ministerial level when ready and subject to guarantees. Currently, this document is not ready to protect Ukraine's interests.
Later, Trump said that Ukraine had disrupted the rare earth metals agreement. The agreement was necessary so that the United States could recoup the money spent on supporting Ukraine.
