Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an exclusive interview Friday with Newsmax, discussed his meeting with Vice President JD Vance earlier in the day on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Zelenskyy told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" in Munich that Ukraine and the U.S. came close to reaching a deal for American investment in his nation's vast reservoir of rare earth minerals and other metals such as titanium, uranium, and lithium.
Trump said Feb. 3 that access to Ukraine's natural resources would be a condition for the U.S' continued military support to the war-torn nation.
"We spoke about mineral resources, about the investment of the United States, and about investment to these resources, production, and for the future," he said. "It can be the part of security guarantees because if there is investment from the United States, if American business shares partnership to one or another resource or another place, and of course they will save it. And that's understandable that they think so.
"I mean, the vice president thinks that that Russia will not attack those things where there are rights of Americans.
"I'm not sure that it works [that] way, but I think that we can work on this document of our partnership. Economically … it's good for both countries. So, we spoke mostly about it.
"Our lawyers have to continue [to] work on this document. It's not totally ready, but I think what is important [is] that we begin to speak with the new administration. I think we don't have too much time to speak. I think we need [a] very concrete plan [on] how to finish the war. But we need strong security guarantees for today."
Zelenskyy also talked about a drone strike that badly damaged the confinement structure around the disused Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Even though Russia denied responsibility, Zelenskyy said the evidence is clear that it was behind the attack.
"We know exactly that it was the Russian drone," he said. "We have the pieces [of the drone]. And a lot of journalists have been there, and our security guys have also been there. We have photo images and video of this drone."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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