Ukraine, U.S. to hold technical consultations on minerals deal on April 11

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said this during a press conference in Brussels, European Pravda reports.

Stefanishyna said that technical consultations on the minerals agreement with the United States involving the teams of the Ministries of Justice and Economy of Ukraine will take place on April 11 in Washington.

When the journalist asked about the details of these consultations, she said she could not comment on it at this time.

"I am not in a position to review any details because the meeting will only take place tomorrow; I will be able to comment tomorrow," Stefanishyna said.

At the same time, she emphasized that nothing in the agreement could be negotiated with Ukraine "in a way that will undermine the existing commitments and obligations Ukraine has, including the financial ones, within the Ukraine Facility, macro-financial assistance and IMF cooperation."

"This is something that is not subjected to any negotiating format, and having said that, it means that appropriate adjustments have to be done to the format of the agreement later on," she added. 

Minerals agreement background

On Thursday, March 27, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States is proposing to sign a full agreement on minerals immediately, instead of a framework deal.

On March 28, media reported that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had added a condition to the minerals deal: Ukraine must repay all aid received from the U.S. since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

That same day, during a Q&A session in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed the government had received a draft minerals agreement from the U.S. and was working on its position.

Later, Zelenskyy said the new U.S. draft on rare earth minerals included points both sides had previously agreed to drop.

On March 31, President Trump claimed the Ukrainian president wanted to walk away from a key minerals deal.

Also on March 31, it was reported that Ukraine and the U.S. had held their first official discussion on the draft agreement.

On April 4, Zelenskyy said lawyers would present the main points of Ukraine’s version of the rare earth minerals deal with the U.S. next week.