We believe that Kyiv is negotiating minerals deal with US in interests of Ukraine - European Commission
The European Commission is convinced that Ukraine is negotiating with the United States on the so-called minerals agreement in the interests of its people.
This was stated by EC spokesperson Guillaume Mercier, Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.
"We believe that the Ukrainian authorities will negotiate a draft agreement in the interests of Ukraine," he said.
The European Commission also welcomed Zelenskyy's statement that if the provisions of the agreement are not compatible with EU law, "these conditions will not be acceptable to Ukraine."
At the same time, the EC spokesperson could not confirm whether there had been any recent contacts between Ukraine and the European Commission regarding this new proposal.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said that during technical consultations on the minerals agreement in Washington last Friday, the Ukrainian delegation handed over proposals prepared by Kyiv to the American side.
To recap, in late March, US President Donald Trump said that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wanted to abandon the rare earth metals agreement.
On March 23, Kyiv received a new draft agreement from the US side on control over Ukraine's critical mineral resources and energy assets. However, the United States does not offer Ukraine any security guarantees and is "aggressively expanding its previous demands."
Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed that Ukraine had received a new text of the agreement. According to her, the Ukrainian side is studying it and will try to reach a consensus with its American partners.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the Security Service of Ukraine to investigate the leak of information about the latest US proposal for a minerals deal.
