EU offers Ukraine its 'win-win' agreement on mineral extraction
updated
The European Union has proposed a "win-win" agreement with Ukraine for the extraction of critical minerals, as announced by EU Industrial Strategy Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné, according to Politico.
Séjourné presented the deal, which rivals US President Donald Trump's proposal, to Ukrainian officials during a visit to Kyiv on the third anniversary of the full-scale war with Russia.
"21 of the 30 critical materials Europe needs can be provided by Ukraine in a win-win partnership. The added value Europe offers is that we will never demand a deal that's not mutually beneficial," Séjourné said, according to AFP.
This proposal comes as U.S. President Donald Trump stated on February 24 that the U.S. is "very close" to reaching an agreement with Ukraine regarding its mineral resources.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has refused to sign the two proposed agreements from the Trump administration, deeming them too stringent.
"I will not sign something that future generations of Ukrainians will have to pay for," Zelenskyy stated during a press conference on Sunday.
Ukraine possesses vast reserves of critical elements and minerals, from lithium to titanium, which are essential for modern technology production and highly sought after in the global resource race.
The country also has significant reserves of coal, oil, gas, and uranium, though many of these resources are located in Russian-occupied territories.
Trump has suggested that the U.S. could recoup "tens of billions of dollars" through a minerals deal with Ukraine, previously mentioning alleged hundreds of billions in Ukrainian debt.
Zelenskyy has clarified that Ukraine received $100 billion in aid from the United States, primarily as grants, and is unwilling to acknowledge this as debt.
The Ukrainian leader explained that the initial agreement wasn't signed due to issues with security guarantees in the text, and an improved version has yet to be finalized.
