Zelensky reportedly "not ready" to strike deal with the US
Kyiv, Ukraine - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is "not ready" to sign a deal that would give the US preferential access to his country's rare earth minerals, a Ukrainian source told AFP.
President Donald Trump wants Ukraine to give US companies access as compensation for the tens of billions of dollars of aid delivered under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Mike Waltz, Trump's national security adviser on Friday predicted that Zelensky would sign the deal soon, but the contours of the proposed agreement have not been made public.
"In the form in which the draft is now, the president is not ready to accept, we are still trying to make changes and add constructiveness," a Ukrainian source close to the matter told AFP Saturday.
"There are no American obligations in the agreement regarding guarantees or investments, everything about them is very vague, and they want to extract $500 billion from us."
"What kind of partnership is this? ... And why do we have to give $500 billion, there is no answer," the source added.
The source said that Ukraine had offered amendments.
Ukraine is seeking security guarantees from the US as part of any deal signing away its natural resources and critical minerals.
The disagreement over the deal comes amid a war of words between Zelensky and Trump, who branded his Ukrainian counterpart a "dictator" in a social media post earlier this week.
Cover photo: Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / POOL / AFP