Ukraine left out of US Treasury mineral deal

The U.S. Treasury Department is working on a detailed agreement that would grant access to Ukraine’s mineral resources, bypassing the Ukrainian government and skipping the planned memorandum stage.

Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko (who has been designated by Russia as a terrorist and extremist) revealed this on Monday.

Following talks on March 11, the U.S. and Ukraine agreed to a comprehensive deal regarding the development of Ukraine’s mineral resources, according to an official statement posted on the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office website.

The document, which is being drafted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, will reportedly be around 40 pages in length.

Goncharenko stated on Telegram that the Ukrainian government has not yet seen the draft agreement and is not involved in its development.

He explained that the initial plan was to first sign a memorandum on rare earth metals, which would lay the groundwork for a full agreement, with clear terms and funding distribution.

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However, he claims that officials have opted to skip this step entirely.

The deal was originally set to be finalized during a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on February 28.

However, the talks fell apart after a disagreement in the Oval Office, resulting in Trump’s senior staff asking the Ukrainian delegation to leave the White House and canceling a planned joint press conference.

Despite the deal having been approved by the Ukrainian government, Trump ultimately decided to cancel the signing.