Trump says US Treasury chief Bessent received rude reception during visit to Kiev

The Kiev authorities treated rudely the head of the US Treasury Department, Bessent, during his first visit to Ukraine. This was reported by US President Donald Trump during his speech at the investment summit in Miami on February 19.

According to him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky treated Bessent rudely, refusing to sign an agreement on rare earth metals.

The U.S. leader noted that the finance minister traveled hours to Kiev by train to meet with Zelensky, who was "asleep and unavailable."

However, Trump has said he intends to strike a rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine, despite Kiev's previous refusal to sign the agreement.

"I'm going to revive [the deal]," Trump stated.

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On the same day, Trump said Ukraine had scrapped the rare earth metals deal. He said the US had handed Kiev $350 billion in aid and now it could not get the money back. The Economist magazine reported on February 16 that President Zelensky was given an hour of time to consider Trump's plan to appropriate the state's rare earth resources in exchange for financial and military aid from the US side. As a result, the Ukrainian side agreed to a delay in execution.