Zelenskyy on Friday emphasized that Ukraine will not accept a minerals agreement that would jeopardize its accession to the European Union.
“Nothing that could endanger … Ukraine’s accession to the EU can be accepted,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha doubled down on that condition Sunday when he said Ukraine will never accept anything that would make the country weak.
“We can see this Russian strategy and will never accept anything that leaves Ukraine weak or defenseless,” Sybiha said. “To the contrary, a real and fair peace requires strong and long-term security guarantees to preserve it.”
The comments come on the back of Washington’s latest minerals offer to Kyiv, which would grant the United States access to Ukraine’s oil, gas and minerals through a joint investment fund that would split the revenue of those projects between the two countries.
Zelenskyy said that the latest draft of the deal included “many new provisions that were not previously discussed,” as well as “some aspects that had already been rejected by both sides,” according to Ukrainian media.
