Success of US-Ukraine resource 'framework' depends on Donald Trump: Zelensky

Kyiv [Ukraine], February 26 : Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday stated that the draft deal with the US on resources is a "framework", and its success hinges on Donald Trump, CNN reported.
According to a CNN report, Zelensky hopes that the natural resources deal will secure the US president's future support and security guarantees for Ukraine.
According to CNN, the United States "supports Ukraine's efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace" without making explicit commitments.
At a press conference in Kyiv, Zelensky conceded that the deal does not have "concrete steps on security guarantees" because these need to be decided jointly with the US and Europe.
The Ukrainian president said that the deal could be a "big success" but emphasised that it only provides a "framework" that can be "part of future security guarantees," which he hopes to discuss during his anticipated meeting with Trump, CNN reported.
The US and Ukraine agreed on terms for the deal, and Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington, DC, in the coming days, according to a Ukrainian official, as per CNN.
According to the deal, which includes spaces for the signatures of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine will allocate 50 per cent of all revenue generated from the future monetisation of state-owned natural resources assets, such as hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas, and rare earth minerals, to the fund.
Zelensky also said in the press conference that Ukraine will not repay money given to it by the US as part of the natural resources deal.
"I will not accept [even] 10 cents of debt repayment in this deal. Otherwise, it will be a precedent," he said Wednesday, as reported by CNN.
Trump had said over the weekend that he is "trying to get the money back" that the Biden administration had given to Ukraine to help it repel Russia's invasion. Trump falsely claimed that the US has given Ukraine USD 350 billion since February 2022. The actual figure is around USD 120 billion, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Trump also claimed that Europe's support for Ukraine was "in the form of a loan."
"They get their money back. We gave it in the form of nothing. So I want them to give us something for all of the money that we've put up," Trump said, saying the US had been made to feel "stupid."
When Trump repeated this claim during talks with Emmanuel Macron on Monday, the French president grabbed Trump's arm to correct him.
"No, in fact, to be frank, we paid. We paid 60% of the total effort. It was like the US: loans, guarantees, grants," Macron said.
Speaking Wednesday, Zelensky said Ukraine remained "grateful" for the US support, but that he would be "very direct" and ask Trump "if the United States will stop support [for Ukraine] or not."
If the US does not provide more aid, Zelensky said Ukraine could "buy weapons directly" from the US, suggesting that frozen Russian assets--amounting to some USD 300 billion--could be used to fund the purchases.