European Commission: EU has not offered Ukraine new deal on materials
Ukraine has not received a proposal from the European Union for a new mutually beneficial agreement on Ukrainian critical minerals during the visit of the College of Commissioners to Kyiv on 24 February, as the partnership in this area between Ukraine and the EU is already ongoing.
Responding to journalists’ requests to comment on the statement by European Commissioner for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné, who said in Kyiv on Monday that he had proposed a "mutually beneficial agreement" on Ukraine’s critical minerals to Ukrainian officials, Regnier stated at a briefing that no new proposal had been made. Instead, Séjourné merely reaffirmed the commitment to previous agreements.
"There is no proposal," said Regnier, explaining that EU cooperation with Ukraine on critical minerals began four years ago.
He noted that "since 2021, the EU has a partnership on critical raw materials with Ukraine, formalised through our memorandum of understanding."
"During yesterday’s College visit to Kyiv, indeed Séjourné met with his Ukrainian counterparts, and he reaffirmed our commitment to implementing this memorandum of understanding and accelerating the work to strengthen our mutually beneficial partnership.
As with all the EU critical raw materials partnership that we have, this cooperation is not only about securing supply chains for the EU but also about fostering local value creation and capacity building in partner countries ensuring mutual benefits.
As you see, this is really here about cooperation with Ukraine, and not about any sort of competition with the US," Regnier said.
On 24 February, Séjourné stated that he proposed a mutually beneficial agreement on Ukraine’s critical minerals to Ukrainian officials during his visit to the city of Kyiv with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
On the same day, US President Donald Trump stated that he was ready to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House "this week or next week" to sign an agreement on the use of mineral resources.
Earlier, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna reported that Ukrainian and US negotiators were in the final stages of talks on the mineral resources agreement.