EU countries will not demand any of Ukraine’s natural resources in exchange for aid – Costa
The EU member states will not demand any natural resources from Ukraine in exchange for assistance.
This was stated by the President of the European Council Antonio Costa in an interview with Suspilne, Censor.NET reports.
"Over the past three years, the European Union has been a major donor to support Ukraine, and we are doing this for Ukraine, for Ukrainians, and for European security, and we are not taking back any of the natural resources in Ukraine," he stressed.
As for the agreement between Ukraine and the United States on rare earth metals, the President of the European Council added:
"Ukraine is a sovereign country that has the sovereign right to govern its territory and negotiate internationally."
Minerals agreement with the US
As a reminder, Trump has said he wants to strike 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 deal on rare earth metals. The agreement was needed so that the US could recover the money spent on supporting Ukraine.
Later, it was reported that the Trump administration had given Ukraine an "improved" draft of the minerals agreement that "complies with Ukrainian law".
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that if the United States wants to see specific figures in the minerals agreement, then according to Ukrainian law, ratification by the Verkhovna Rada will be necessary.
