White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said that Washington is disappointed by Zelensky’s “short-sighted” decision to miss a “great opportunity” to sign a proposed U.S.-brokered agreement on Ukrainian minerals.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had instructed his ministers not to sign a proposed agreement allowing the United States access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals because the document is too focused on U.S. interests.
“I did not allow the ministers to sign the relevant agreement because, in my opinion, it is not prepared to protect us, our interests,” Zelensky said in Munich on Saturday.
Hughes said the minerals deal would allow American taxpayers to “repay” the money sent to Kyiv while also developing Ukraine’s economy.
Hughes added that the White House believes that “close economic ties with the United States will be the best guarantee against future aggression and an integral part of a lasting peace.”
