The agreement on minerals with the United States should be signed and we should move on to a substantive discussion of how to put pressure on Russia to end the war.
This opinion was expressed by Arseniy Yatsenyuk, chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum and Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2014-2016, in an interview with Ukrinform.
“This is a framework agreement that maybe someday, under some circumstances, American investors will begin to consider the issue of industrial and commercial extraction of minerals that still need to be confirmed and found,” he said.
At the same time, the politician emphasized the importance of the security aspect in this context.
“If you go to any American fund now or to any American company engaged in exploration and production of mineral resources, the first question they will ask is not about corruption, the rule of law or the courts – the first question is: will the missiles fly or not? Who will ensure the safety of our investments and our employees? Who guarantees this? That is why any investment agreement will be fulfilled only in one case – if there is security for American money,” he emphasized.
In this context, according to Yatsenyuk, there is one “small” problem. After all, the minerals agreement is signed between Ukraine and the United States, and the ceasefire must be ensured by Russia.
“This has nothing to do with putting pressure on Russia to stop the war of aggression. It has to do with the fact that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, showed his voters that Ukraine has signed an agreement in which the United States of America is likely to benefit economically from it… If the Americans get an economic benefit, then Ukraine will get an economic benefit first. This is how the economy works,” he emphasized.
Regarding Russia’s statements about its readiness to provide rare earth resources in the occupied Ukrainian territories, Yatsenyuk said: “That is why I would not even discuss this agreement. If the U.S. Treasury Secretary came to my office, we would have amended the agreement in 2-3 hours, removed unnecessary things and held a press conference. And the president would say: I have signed my part of the agreement, Mr. President, sign it, we have turned the page. You wanted an agreement, we signed an agreement. Now we are moving on to the most important thing, Mr. President, not how we put pressure on Ukraine, but how we put pressure on Russia.”
As reported by Ukrinform, on February 28, a ceremony of signing the Agreement on the establishment of an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine with the participation of the presidents of Ukraine and the United States was to take place in Washington. But after the negotiations were completed early, the signing of the document was canceled.
President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed the position that Ukraine and the United States should sign a bilateral agreement on the creation of an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine, which would be beneficial for both parties.
On March 4, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal emphasized that Ukraine is ready to sign an agreement with the United States to create a joint investment fund.
House member Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican, assured that an agreement on mining between Ukraine and the United States would be signed in the near future.
The agreement did not provide explicit security guarantees for Ukraine, but gave the United States access to revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources. According to the draft, the Ukrainian government will contribute 50% of the future monetization of any state-owned natural resources to a reconstruction investment fund to be managed by both countries.
Source: Yatsenyuk: Mineral deal must be signed, focus should shift to pressuring Russia
