BREAKINGBREAKING,
US President says he expects Ukrainian leader to sign agreement on Friday.
The United States and Ukraine have reached a deal granting access to the European country’s rare earth minerals, US President Donald Trump has announced.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump confirmed earlier reports that he had reached an agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to develop these critical minerals.
“I hear that he is coming on Friday. Certainly, it’s OK with me if he would like to. And he would like to sign it together with me, and I understand that’s a big deal, a very big deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump stated that the deal could be worth $1 trillion and will ensure that American taxpayers “get their money back, plus more.”
“We’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars on Russia and Ukraine fighting a war that should have never, ever happened,” he added.
When asked what Kyiv would receive in return, Trump mentioned aid worth $350 billion that he claimed has already been provided, along with “military equipment and the right to continue fighting.”
According to the Congressional Research Service, the US Congress allocated $174 billion for Ukraine between 2022 and 2024.
Trump’s comments followed reports that Washington and Kyiv had reached an agreement after Zelenskyy rejected an earlier draft that would have relinquished rights to $500 billion worth of Ukraine’s natural resources.
While the full details of the agreement remain unconfirmed, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher reported that drafts circulating among media outlets suggested Washington would receive 50 percent of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals after Ukraine had extracted $500 billion to bolster its economy.
Fisher noted that the unconfirmed drafts indicated Washington would make a “long-term financial commitment to develop a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.”
“What appears to be missing are any security guarantees. This is all financial,” Fisher said.
More to follow…
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