The Washington Keeve deal exempts Ukraine for assistance with past “debts” but does not provide security guarantees against further Russian attacks.
US Vice President JD Vance said his administration would not end the war in Ukraine despite preparations at Kyiv to ratify the mineral trade with Washington.
Vance told Fox News on Thursday that the Ukrainian war urged by the 2022 invasion of the Russian country “we don’t intend to end soon.”
The comments came the day after Ukraine signed an agreement granting US priority access to minerals.
“It will be up to them to reach an agreement and stop this brutal and brutal conflict,” Vance said in an interview, referring to Russia and Ukraine. “I’m not going anywhere… it won’t end soon.”
Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said in a telegram on Friday that the parliament will vote on May 8 to ratify the mineral trade.
Ukrainian President Voldimia Zelensky argued Thursday that the deal, which was nearly derailed after a fierce exchange between Vance and President Donald Trump in February, was a “really equal agreement.”
The deal exempts Ukraine from the previous US demanding that Russia cover billions of dollars in military aid supply since its invasion in February 2022.
It does not give a specific US security commitment, as Ukraine wanted. However, Washington argues that increasing US business interests to Ukraine will help deter Russia.
“We’re still apart”
Trump claimed to mediate a ceasefire, but his administration warned that if Russia and Ukraine continue to launch attacks on each other, it could leave.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News Thursday that the two countries are “close, but still far away.”
On the other hand, hostility persists. The Ukrainian Air Force said Friday that Russia fired 150 drones overnight.
Regional governor Ivan Fedorov said 29 people were injured in the strike in Zaporidia’s industrial city.
Two men were injured in a drone attack in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region after a fire broke out in two locations, Gov. Sergy Rissak said in a telegram.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its air defenses destroyed 121 Ukrainian drones.
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