Nothing to do with security: Ukrainian MP on minerals deal

He said this on the Espreso TV channel.

“The agreement on minerals will not need to be ratified, but the document on the establishment of an international fund that will implement it will have to be ratified. It should be understood that the agreement itself is just a protocol of intent. It is a document about nothing, similar to the Budapest Memorandum, but much weaker. But when an additional agreement on the fund appears, it will need to be ratified by the parliament, as President Zelensky said.

In my opinion, this is a complete PR story, especially for the Americans. Trump likes to show success and demonstrate how he has achieved something. And the Ukrainians are playing along: let's sign a protocol of intent with you,” said Kniazhytskyi.

The Ukrainian MP also added that the minerals agreement is not related to security at all. Although observers say it does contain these provisions, Trump has already said that no one will guarantee Ukraine's security.

“Lavrov and Putin's entourage have said that they are not going to talk about any truce. They are not going to stop at the contact line because they believe that the occupied territories of Ukraine, which they illegally wrote into their Constitution, are their territories.

The Russians say they want to overcome the root causes of this conflict, but in fact, the root causes of their aggression against Ukraine were announced by Putin in Munich and then before the invasion, and they have nothing to do with Ukraine.

It is an attempt to reshape the world and take control of the countries that joined NATO in the 1990s-Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic states. Putin has not abandoned this goal. All the talk about quick negotiations has not brought us any closer to any truce. And we should not indulge in dreams or hopes for this,” Kniazhytskyi emphasized.

• U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday, February 28, to sign a framework agreement on natural resources.