Nauseda on Ukraine-US agreement: It is important to ensure equality of pages
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda welcomed the agreement between Ukraine and the United States on mineral resources, noting that American participation in this sector could become an additional security factor for Ukraine.
This is reported by LRT, Censor.NET informs.
"I congratulate Ukraine because I saw with my own eyes in Kyiv how much intensive political and legal work was done for this. They managed to improve the wording of the agreement," Nauseda said.
He noted that the US involvement in the Ukrainian resource sector creates additional guarantees of stability, but at the same time, it is important that both countries act as equal partners.
"The very fact that America will be interested in Ukrainian mineral resources is a very good deterrent because America will also be interested in its presence or in Ukraine's security or in its guarantees."
U.S. President Donald Trump emphasized that the deal is beneficial for Kyiv as it strengthens U.S. support. At the same time, he emphasized that European allies should take care of Ukraine's security guarantees.
Nauseda, commenting on global trends, noted that the current international order is becoming "more economically oriented," and the values and principles that previously shaped European policy are gradually fading into the background.
"We talk a lot less about the values and principles that Europe was really proud of and sought to set an example for in its politics. Now, these principles are shifting somewhat," the Lithuanian leader said.
Minerals deal with the US
As a reminder, Trump has said he wants to sign a $500 billion 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 interest.
Later, Trump said that Ukraine had broken the deal on rare earth metals. The agreement was needed so that the United States could recover the money spent on supporting Ukraine.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has handed over to 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 numbers in the minerals agreement, then according to Ukrainian law, ratification by the Verkhovna Rada will be required.
On February 25, the Financial Times reports that Ukraine and the United States have agreed on the terms of the minerals agreement, and Kyiv is ready to sign the document.
On February 26, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the signing of the agreement on mineral resources with the United States.
