On Tuesday evening, international media announced that Ukraine and the United States had agreed on terms of a deal to give the US access to Ukrainian mineral resources. The parties are expected to sign the agreement as early as Friday.
"I congratulate the Ukrainian side, as I have seen for myself the intensive legal work going on in Kyiv. They have managed to improve the text of the agreement," the president told reporters Litexpo Exhibition Centre in Vilnius, as he attended in opening of Vilnius Book Fair on Thursday.
"The very fact that America will have an interest in the minerals in Ukraine is a very good deterrent, because America will also have an interest in its presence and in a certain amount of security or guarantees of security for Ukraine," Nausėda stated, adding that "this is the right way."
The president also highlighted the importance of both parties being on an equal footing. "Things seem to be moving in that direction," he said.
US President Donald Trump had demanded that Ukraine give the US access to its rare earth minerals in return for billions of dollars in military aid received during Joe Biden’s presidency.
The deal’s wording, as published by The Financial Times, The Kyiv Independent and other media, does however indicate that the United States and Ukraine should develop mineral resources together with revenues diverted to a joint US-Ukrainian fund, AFP reported.
Ukraine had asked the US to include security guarantees in any agreement.
The draft agreement refers to „security“ but does not specify any role of the United States in ensuring it, sources say.