Representatives of US President Donald Trump’s administration reportedly pushed to exclude wording on security guarantees from an agreement between the US and Ukraine regarding access to Ukrainian natural resources.
According to an unnamed Ukrainian official, cited by the New York Times, Trump administration negotiators repeatedly tried to remove references to security guarantees from early drafts, arguing that they were “unrelated” to mineral rights. The phrasing was only added back at the later stages of negotiations.
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The New York Times obtained a copy of the Feb. 24 draft, which states that the United States “supports Ukraine’s effort to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace.”
This wording was also reported by the Ukrainian outlet European Pravda, which published the full agreement text. Earlier drafts reportedly did not include any mention of security guarantees.
The NYT notes that while the current language expresses support, it remains vague and does not specify any concrete US commitments. It is also unclear if this version is final.
The draft also mentions US steps to “protect mutual investments,” which, according to analysts, could imply a role in safeguarding mineral resources – some of which are near the front lines.
Ukraine had insisted that security guarantees be part of the deal. Zelensky acknowledged on Feb. 26 that while the agreement “does not have all the security guarantees that Ukraine wanted,” at least the wording “security guarantees” appeared in the final draft of the document.
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Trump, for his part, claimed the agreement ensures automatic security, stating that “no one will attack Ukraine as long as the US is working there.”
At the same time, at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump ruled out offering US security guarantees for Ukraine in upcoming peace settlements. He said he would have Europe offer the ones to Ukraine instead when asked by a reporter about “what type of security guarantees” he was willing to make.
“Well I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond… we’re gonna have Europe do that… cause Europe is their next-door neighbor,” he said.
Zelensky is set to visit Washington on Friday, Feb. 28, to sign the agreement, it has been already confirmed in Kyiv in Washington.
On Tuesday evening, Ukrainian officials confirmed that Kyiv is ready to sign an agreement with the US on developing its mineral resources – including oil and gas – after Washington dropped demands for the right to $500 billion in potential revenue from exploiting Ukraine’s resources.
According copy of the revised agreement, obtained by European Pravda, Kyiv agrees to allocate 50% of future revenues generated from minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas, and other extractive materials to a joint US-Ukraine fund in the new minerals deal with the US.
At the same time, the draft makes no mention of the monetary value to be extracted from Ukraine’s mineral resources under the agreement.
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