Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has refused a US attempt to acquire ownership of about 50 percent of rights to the rare minerals of his country’s land and is trying to negotiate a better deal, according to some people with the matter .
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered Zelenskyy the deal during a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, which came after President Donald Trump suggested that the US owed half trillion of Ukrainian sources in exchange for its aid destroyed country.
Zelenskyy wants American and European security guarantees to be directly linked to any agreement on the mineral reserves, according to four people known for the US-Ukraine negotiations.
It is also interested in other countries, including EU countries, to be involved in the use of future natural resources.
But the agreement proposed by Trump and submitted by Bessent referred only to the US by receiving Ukrainian sources in exchange for past military aid, and did not contain any proposals for similar assistance in the future, according to a person known with the document.
“We are still talking,” Zelenskyy said in Munich on Saturday. “I’ve had different dialogues.”
A senior Ukraine official told The Financial Times that Kyiv was “trying to negotiate a better deal”.
During his visit to the Presidential Office to Kyiv this week Bessent brought a document that Trump wanted Zelenskyy to sign before Bessent returned to Washington, according to five people acquainted with the case.
Speaking to reporters before he and Zelenskyy discussed the private agreement for approximately an hour, Bessent described it as an “economic agreement” with Kyiv to “further intertwine our economies”.
The Trump administration would “stay to the end (with KyIV) by increasing our economic commitment” which “will provide a long -term security shield for all Ukrainians” after Russia’s war ended, Bessent said.
“When we looked at the details there was nothing there (regarding future US security guarantees),” another Ukrainian official told FT.
Asked if it was a bad deal for Ukrainian, a third Ukrainian official known for the proposal said it was “a Trump deal”. “This is taking Trump’s treatment,” the official said. “Tough.”
The main concern of Ukraine is the lack of connection with wider security guarantees, according to the three people who have considered the proposal.
Ukrainian officials asked how the agreement would contribute to the long-term security of their country, but it was only told that it would provide an American presence in Ukrainian land-an unclear answer that left key questions unanswered, they said.
Bessent argued that the simple presence of Americans providing mineral deposit sites would be enough to obstruct Moscow.
Another contagious point is the specification of the document that New York would be the jurisdiction in which disputes over mineral rights are resolved, according to two persons acquainted with the matter.
A person close to Zelenskyy said US Ambassador Bidget Brink presented him the document containing the proposal shortly before Bessent’s arrival in Kyiv, without the previous warning.
This did not believe that the proposal was applicable under New York’s law, the person said.
The document separated from Brink was the same that Bessent later gave to Zelenskyy, according to the person. Was addressed “Draft since February 7, 2025”. Zelenskyy’s team was told he was expected to sign it Wednesday during Bessent’s visit.
The US Embassy did not respond immediately to a comment request.
Ukraine supports the concept of exchange of Ukrainian resources for future security, said the person near Zelenskyy. But the US proposal referred only to the aid, not the future, and an international binding binding agreement is the only way to ensure that the rights and interests of both parties are protected, they added.
After their meeting, Zelenskyy told reporters that he would consider the proposal, but would not sign anything at the time.
“We will review this document and work quickly to ensure that our teams reach an agreement. The US is our strategic partner and we are committed to completing the details,” Zelenskyy said at the time.
Bessent said after the meeting that Trump wanted the deal to be made.
“I believe this document is important from President Trump’s view of resolving this conflict (with Russia) as soon as possible,” he said. “We will offer American assistance guarantees to Ukraine people. I believe this is a very strong signal for Russia for our purposes.”
Zelenskyy said he wanted to discuss the prospect of a mineral rights agreement further at the Munich Security Conference, which is taking place this weekend.
In a meeting with US Vice President JD Vance in Munich on Friday, he made a counter-officer he also discussed with US lawmakers on the forum margins.
In a speech in Munich on Friday, Zelenskyy said his legal team would review the document Bessent presented in Kyiv to provide advice and suggest possible changes. He described it as a memorandum between JSC and Ukraine, rather than an official security agreement.
Zelenskyy has not signed the deal because he wants to get others, including European nations, involved in mineral mines, said a European official informed.
“They are under strong pressure from the Americans for that,” the official said.
The US proposal matches a “victory plan” that Zelenskyy’s team has been developing since last summer to deepen connections with the Trump administration allowing US entry into critical minerals used in high -tech industry.
Ukraine has precious minerals estimated to be worth several trillion dollars, including lithium, titanium and graphite, all of which are essential for the production of high -tech products. But many of these sources are in areas that are either under Russian occupation or risk being captured by the progressive forces of the Kremlin, as they sit near the first lines in the birth of Ukraine.
