AMN / WEB DESK
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said he may be forced to sign an economic agreement with the United States that would ensure continued aid for Ukraine in return for the U.S. making a profit from minerals in the country. “If your conditions are, ‘We will not give you aid if you do not sign an agreement,’ then it is clear,” Zelenskyy said during a news conference at a forum of government officials in Kyiv marking the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“If we are forced and we cannot do without it, then we should probably go for it … I just want a dialogue with President (Donald) Trump.” The Trump administration has pressured Zelenskyy to sign a deal allowing the U.S. access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals as a form of compensation for the assistance the U.S has provided to Kyiv as it defends against Russia’s invasion.