President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that without security guarantees, the economic agreement with the United States on rare earth metals will not work.
“If we do not receive security guarantees from the United States, I believe that the economic agreement will not work. Everything must be honest,” Zelensky said in an interview with NBC News.
The President of Ukraine made it clear that any deal involving Ukrainian minerals must be accompanied by security guarantees from the United States.
“We looked at what America imports, what rare earth metals, what America imports for its industry. And when we took titanium as an example, we say that we have titanium in Ukraine, and this is accurate information. And it’s enough for the industry for 40 years,” he said.
“Help us protect it, and we will make money on it together,” Zelenskyy said.
For its part, the United States called Ukraine’s position short-sighted, the Associated Press reports.
White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement that “President Zelensky is short-sighted in his assessment of the great opportunity the Trump administration has provided to Ukraine.”
Hughes said that the minerals deal would allow U.S. taxpayers to “recoup” money sent to Kyiv while also helping to develop Ukraine’s economy.
Hughes added that the White House believes that “binding economic ties with the United States will be the best safeguard against future aggression and an integral part of a lasting peace.” He added: “The United States recognizes this, the Russians recognize this, and Ukrainians should recognize this,” AR writes.
Ukraine wants to attract American investors in strategic industries and get strong security guarantees, including from the United States, the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, wrote in his Telegram channel on Sunday.
“The main message of President Vladimir Zelensky is that the situation in the world requires Europe’s strength and unity to be able to respond to any challenges. In addition, during meetings in Munich with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and other American officials, Ukraine received commitments of continued support and political will to achieve sustainable peace,” Yermak said.
He also noted that the president has made it clear that any plans prepared without Ukraine are unacceptable.
“Security guarantees must be strong, effective and real, and include the United States,” Yermak concluded.
Andriy Yermak, SECURITY GUARANTEES, STRATEGIC INDUSTRIES, US investorsi
So far, none of the allies has provided their vision of security guarantees for Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said.
“I did not raise the issue of security guarantees at the meeting, because we know exactly the list of allies that we see as potential security guarantors with whom we are negotiating on a bilateral basis. But in my bilateral meetings here, we raise and discuss this issue with them. They receive a better understanding of what we want. But we are still discussing. None of them have given us their vision of security guarantees at the moment,” Kuleba said at a press conference after attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday.
Advisors to the leaders of 7 countries, including the United States, Great Britain, Turkey, Poland, Germany, France and Israel, are ready to discuss a list of security guarantees for Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“The meeting will definitely take place, because it was confirmed by representatives of the guarantor countries. Of the future. This applies to the United States, Great Britain, Turkey, Poland, Germany, France, Israel. These are not all guarantors, but I named those countries that are already ready to come and discuss a list of security guarantees,” Zelensky said in an interview with the Turkish Haberturk TV channel.
He stressed that it is important for Ukraine to know what kind of guarantees these countries are willing to accept.
“They have different views. Some of them are ready for anything, for full support. And some not for full support. Therefore, we need a joint meeting with these countries at the level of advisers who will talk about a future document – guarantees of our sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity “, – he said, adding that, “when Ukraine is satisfied with everything in the document, a meeting with the Russian side will take place.”
The head of state also noted that a meeting with the advisers of these 7 countries should be held in the near future. “And then – just as quickly – with Russia, because there is a war going on in Ukraine,” he added.
Ukraine has come up with a proposal to sign a new international treaty on security guarantees, which will include an article similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, David Arakhamia, the head of the Servant of the People faction, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, said.
“About a new system of security guarantees for Ukraine. We insist that it be an international treaty, which will be signed by all security guarantors, which will be ratified so as not to repeat the mistake that was once in the Budapest Memorandum. It turned out to be just a piece of paper, and we learned now very, very painfully. We want this to be a working international mechanism of concrete security guarantees for Ukraine,” Arakhamia said at a briefing following the talks with the Russian delegation in Istanbul on Tuesday.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has stated the need to find effective security guarantees for Ukraine that would not be in doubt.
“We need to look for effective guarantees. Guarantees for us, for our skies, and we will not abandon it. We need aircraft. I will continue to talk about this, I will continue to pursue this. We need long-term security guarantees for the state, for all Ukrainians, but concrete things, specific guarantees, legally binding, so that there is no doubt about them,” Zelensky said in a video message on Tuesday.
