Zelenskyy changed his mind, actually apologized, and is ready to sign deal on minerals, - Speaker Johnson
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has changed his mind about the minerals agreement and is ready to sign it.
The American politician said this in a radio interview, The Hill reports, Censor.NET informs.
"I am very grateful and glad that Zelenskyy has completely changed his mind over the past few days. He actually apologized for all of this. And he said: "Oh, no, no, we'd still like that deal." I think he had a rude awakening," Johnson said.
According to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, "a lot of people in Ukraine were upset" with the way the meeting between the US and Ukrainian presidents at the White House went.
"Of course, we were all upset, but we have to get him back to the negotiating table," the US lawmaker added.
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 derailed the rare earth metals deal. 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 minerals agreement with the United States.
The agreement was supposed to be signed on February 28 at the White House, but due to a dispute between Trump and Zelenskyy, it did not happen.
