The sovereignty challenges posed by the future deployment of foreign peacekeeping forces in Ukraine are so far not on Kyiv’s agenda.
According to the Financial Times, the new agreement between Ukraine and the US on the control of Ukraine’s critical minerals and energy assets, goes beyond the initial joint economic agreement signed last month as part of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the Russian invasion and offset military aid to Ukraine. Ukrainian senior officials have expressed concerns that the new proposal could undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty, redirect profits abroad, and increase its dependence on Washington, the FT says. The proble is that, despite the new document covers all mineral resources, including oil, gas, and key energy assets on Ukrainian territory, it still does not offer Kyiv any security guarantees in return.
Bloomberg’s sources also claim that the White House is going beyond the previously discussed deal. According to Bloomberg, the US insists on controlling all major future investments in Ukraine’s infrastructure and mineral resources. In doing so, it seeks to gain veto power over any role of other allies of Kyiv, thus undermining its bid for European Union membership. Specifically, the administration of US President Donald Trump demands a ’right of first offer’ on investments in all infrastructure and natural projects within the revised partnership agreement with Ukraine, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg.
In his reaction to the new American approach to the subsoil deal, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, ’It is too early to talk about signing the agreement’ because the text requires detailed examination, adding also that, as he understands, America was changing the rules. ’But I do not want the US to feel that Ukraine is generally against it. We have been sending positive signals, and we are for cooperation with the US’, he emphasised.
If we are to trust the sources who has has reviewed the new draft document, the new rare earth metals agreement looks like an ordinary commercial deal and significantly limits Ukraine’s rights. If the new agreement is approved, this would mark an unprecedented expansion of US economic influence in Europe’s largest country by area at a time when it is seeking to join the EU given that, with this agreement the US will gain extensive powers to control investments in Ukraine in projects such as highways and railroads, ports, mines, oil and gas, as well as the extraction of critically important minerals.
Given that the Minerals Deal is seen in Kyiv as a danger to Ukraine’s sovereignty, what do they think of the future French, British and other peacekeeping forces that are expected to be deployed in Ukraine to safeguard the peace and integrity of the territory once the peace agreement is concluded? As agreed by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the summit of the ’Coalition of the Willing’ in Paris on 27 March, the two countries are ready to send peacekeepers to Ukraine and to guarantee the country’s security by all means.
Should Ukraine grant control over its subsoil to the US and allow foreign troops to be deployed on its territory, this will be a slippery slope to the eventual loss of sovereignty. In this case, there will be no longer any need for the Ukrainian Government, the Ukrainian Parliament and, the Ukrainian President, as they will no longer have in their hands any of the rights that are essential for a Ukrainian sovereignty.
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