Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has said that his country can achieve a “long-lasting, just peace” under the leadership of U.S. President Donald Trump.
On March 18, during an annual geopolitical conference in India’s capital city of New Delhi, Sybiha said that Kyiv was not the obstacle to a peace deal with Russia.
“We are not the obstacle to achieving peace ... we really expect from [the] Russian side [an] unconditional yes for [a] cease-fire,” he said.
“Our approach: Now is a time for diplomacy, for a strong diplomacy.
Trump
Sybiha accused Moscow of not wanting to end the war. He said that Ukraine will never recognize any of its territories occupied by Russian forces.Sybiha made the comments as Ukraine is waiting for clarity to emerge on the peace process after a phone conversation between Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, expected later on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has consistently insisted that any peace deal must include security guarantees to ensure Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against potential future Russian attacks.
“Tomorrow morning I will be speaking to President Putin concerning the War in Ukraine. Many elements of a Final Agreement have been agreed to, but much remains,” Trump said via his Truth Social platform.
Cease-Fire
Trump had earlier confirmed over the weekend that the leaders plan on discussing a cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia.“A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One on March 16.
Trump said on Sunday the talks would involve land and power plants, adding that they have already discussed dividing assets between the two countries.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters on Monday that this will cover some land and other assets.
“There’s a power plant that is on the border of Russia and Ukraine that was up for discussion with the Ukrainians, and he will address it in his call with Putin tomorrow,” Leavitt said.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, said on Monday that Moscow wants guarantees that NATO will not accept Kyiv’s membership in the security alliance.
Rare Earths
In February, Trump pushed for a deal for Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, but some said the estimated $500 billion value was based on old data and exaggerated.Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has Europe’s largest reserves of titanium, which are used in aerospace, automotive, and medical industries, as well as uranium, the primary fuel source for nuclear power reactors and weapon production.
Many of the titanium deposits were marked in northwestern Ukraine, far from the fighting, he said.
He claimed that Russia knew in detail where Ukraine’s critical resources were from Soviet-era geological surveys.
However, Ukraine’s rare earths and minerals may not be easy to extract.
“Some are stuck behind battle lines or, in the case of the geological record for one of the sites, require advanced processing technology and a stable energy grid to extract,” the report said, adding that the valuation of the deposits is based on “decades-old data.”
