On February 11, it became known that US President Donald Trump had sent Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It was not yet known what Bessent would discuss with Zelenskyy.
But during the meeting with the Ukrainian president, Scott Bessent said that America would continue to support Ukraine in exchange for an agreement on the extraction of rare earth metals.
According to Bessent, US President Donald Trump intends to do everything possible to end this war. The United States, says Scott Bessent, is committed to Ukraine’s independence, and American citizens need to know why the United States is interfering in Ukraine’s affairs.
President Trump has a plan to end this war, and we would like to conclude an economic cooperation agreement. And in exchange for this agreement, the United States will continue to provide material support to Ukraine and its people. That’s what we have here. And we think that this will send a strong signal to the American people that the money coming into Ukraine means that we have common values, that we have common security, and we hope to increase our common economic commitments, – the US Treasury Secretary explained how the cooperation agreement between Ukraine and the United States would look like.
Scott Bessent noted that such an agreement would send a strong signal to the Russian leadership about the US commitment to Ukraine.
It also became known that he brought to Ukraine a draft agreement on access to Ukrainian mineral resources worth $500 billion in exchange for Washington’s assistance.
We had a constructive and productive conversation, we discussed the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine, and we talked about minerals. Our team was handed the first draft of this document from the United States on partnership between our countries, and I really want our team to study this document, we received it today, we will study it and do everything so that our teams can quickly agree and sign it, – Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a press approach after the meeting with Bessent.
The President noted that the Ukrainian side wanted to study the details of the document as soon as possible.
We will do everything to study all the details of the document, we will do everything to be in time for the Munich Security Conference, because we do not want to waste time. I will do everything to ensure that the team of government officials works in the next 2 days and we have the opportunity to record some relevant agreements in Munich, – Zelenskyy said.
Later, the Ukrainian side announced that it had finalized the draft memorandum of partnership and submitted it to the American side. But President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not allow the agreement on rare earth metals to be signed with the United States because it was not ready to protect Ukrainian interests.
I did not allow it to be signed because it is not ready yet, not ready to protect our interests. There should be investments, and the profit from them can be distributed. And there must also be security guarantees. This is not there yet, – Zelenskyy said while talking to journalists on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
In response, Trump noted that the United States has spent “$200 billion more than Europe” to support Ukraine. At the same time, Trump noted, “Europe gives money under guarantees” and receives money back, “it’s a form of loan”. While the United States “just gives money” without getting anything back.
The head of the US Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, also reacted to this situation.
President (of Ukraine – ed.) Zelenskyy is escalating the situation. Many of his statements in Munich were unacceptable. When I met with President Zelensky, he assured me that he would sign the mineral’s agreement in Munich. He did not, – Bessent said.
On February 20, the Trump administration again presented Ukraine with an “improved” draft agreement on minerals. However, it is still known that work on the agreement is ongoing.
Who is Scott Bessent?
Scott Bessent is an American hedge fund manager born in Conway, South Carolina. In 2024, he was an economic adviser during the Trump presidential campaign. He also organized a fundraiser in Greenville in February that raised nearly $7 million for the campaign.
In April 2024, he hosted a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, where $50 million was raised for the Trump campaign.
On January 28, the U.S. Senate confirmed Scott Bessent as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury with 68 votes in favor and 29 against.
Bessent became the fifth nominee of President Donald Trump to be confirmed by the Senate, receiving support from both sides of the party line.
Scott Bessent also presented Trump with his “3-3-3” economic plan, which provides for:
- reducing the federal budget deficit to 3% of GDP;
- achieving 3% GDP growth;
- increasing daily oil production by 3 million barrels by the end of Trump’s second term.
Scott was also a Democratic supporter and worked for George Soros, but has now become an ardent Trump supporter.
Kateryna Yashchuk
