Trump had "sophisticated plan" to bring Ukraine closer to U.S. Zelenskyy prevented it – Bessent
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy allegedly prevented White House Chief Executive Donald Trump's "sophisticated plan" to "bring the two countries closer" because Zelenskyy did not sign an agreement on Ukrainian minerals.
According to Censor.NET, he said this on Bloomberg.
"President Zelensky escalated the situation. Many of his statements in Munich were unacceptable. When I met with President Zelenskyy, he assured me that he would sign the minerals agreement in Munich. He did not," Bessent said.
The American official claims that the signing of this agreement was part of Trump's "sophisticated plan" to "bring Ukraine closer to the United States."
According to him, if the agreement is signed, the United States will have a greater economic interest in Ukraine and will provide protection for it.
"The consequence of what was supposed to happen was to bring Ukraine closer through economic ties, to convince and enlist the support of the American people (to continue supporting Ukraine - ed.), and then to tell the Russians to come to the negotiating table with a very clear message: if necessary, we will increase sanctions," Bessent added.
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.
