US objected to mention of security guarantees in Ukraine minerals deal, NYT says
Pravda Ukraine
The United States initially objected to including a reference to security guarantees for Ukraine in a bilateral agreement on mineral development which Kyiv and Washington plan to sign on 28 February.
Source: The New York Times, citing a Ukrainian source involved in the negotiations, as reported by European Pravda
Details: The version of the minerals deal agreed upon by Ukraine and the United States mentions that the United States “supports Ukraine’s effort to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace”.
The NYT reported that previous drafts of the agreement made no mention of security guarantees.
The NYT’s source said officials in the Trump administration had “strenuously tried to exclude” the phrase “security guarantees” from previous drafts.
According to the source, the NYT said, the US had argued that the phrase exceeded the scope of the negotiations on mining rights in Ukraine.
It remained unclear whether the revised wording signified support for explicit US security guarantees or for Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts to promote a European “peacekeeping” mission.
Background: On Wednesday, 26 February, Trump himself refused to promise Ukraine specific security guarantees from the United States, saying that this should be done by Europe.
Read also: The full text of the Ukraine-US Minerals Agreement
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