‘We’re not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end,’ Marco Rubio says
The Guardian’s Luke Harding in Kyiv has obtained the memorandum of intent to be signed next week by Ukraine and the US over a minerals deal. It envisages setting up a joint investment fund between the two countries. The draft recognises the “significant financial and material support” Washington has given Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale 2022 invasion.
It does not clarify whether profits from future investments will be used to “pay back” the US for previous military aid made under the Biden administration. Donald Trump says Ukraine “owes” the US at least $300bn. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says weapons deliveries were a Congress-approved grant, not a loan, and therefore do not need to be paid back. He adds that Ukraine is willing to pay for future military aid from the Trump administration.
The Americans are ready to discuss security guarantees, but the exact content of those guarantees will depend on negotiations allowing Ukraine to achieve a solid and durable peace starting with a complete ceasefire as soon as possible.
We exchanged views on the next steps … including the implementation of a full ceasefire, the involvement of a multinational military contingent and development of an effective security architecture for Ukraine.
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