Ukraine-U.S. minerals deal includes weapons provision — Ukrainian lawmaker

He said this in the corridors of the Verkhovna Rada, as reported by Espreso correspondent Kateryna Halko.

“The agreement is definitely needed at this time. Even though it does not mention security, it does mention the supply of weapons. This is very important for us, because we were worried that under no circumstances would the United States even sell us weapons. Such scenarios were being considered. The fact that this provision is included is extremely positive. The agreement itself does not pose any dangers,” Kniazhytskyi said.

At the same time, the MP emphasized that the document does not address other issues, such as the management of the joint Ukrainian-American fund.

“Many other issues that should have been included in additional agreements, unfortunately, may be drafted ineffectively, and this could harm the Ukrainian-American partnership. That is why we demanded that the current legislation be followed and that everything be voted on together,” he explained.

According to him, not only the agreement itself, but also other related documents should have been put to a vote in the Verkhovna Rada.

“Why is a government agreement being ratified? It is ratified only if other legislative acts need to be brought into compliance with it. In this case, that is what happened. The government instructed Svyrydenko to sign the agreement, she signed it, and all agreements, amendments to the law, and resolutions related to this agreement were supposed to be submitted to parliament. This was not done. So from the very beginning, this agreement was adopted with violations. Obviously, this is a serious matter. That is why the European Solidarity party demanded that this be done. But it was not,” the MP added.

Kniazhytskyi also stressed that the government held meetings regarding the agreement with many factions, except for European Solidarity.

• On Thursday, May 8, the Verkhovna Rada approved the ratification of the agreement between Ukraine and the United States on mineral resources.