Western media say that the U.S. wants to control the gas pipeline of Gazprom (Russia) running through Ukrainian territory.

The draft agreement on Ukrainian minerals proposed by the U.S. seems to require the Washington side's International Development Finance Corporation to control a gas pipeline of Gazprom running through Ukraine to Europe, Reuters reports, citing informed sources.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials met about the draft in Washington on April 12. According to sources, the prospects for achieving a breakthrough are rather dim as the atmosphere of the meeting is said to be relatively tense.

The draft appears to have "maximized" the benefits that the U.S. government could achieve in the mineral agreement with Ukraine. A spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury emphasized that the discussions are "technical in nature."

The Ukrainian government has hired the law firm Hogan Lovells as external consultants for the mineral agreement. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal and Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko will be in Washington in two weeks to attend meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The previous mineral agreement failed to be signed due to a heated debate between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on February 28.

On March 27, Kiev announced that it had received a revised agreement, which is much tougher on Ukraine than the previous draft agreement. The new proposal requires Ukraine to use resources to repay the over $100 billion in aid that the U.S. has provided to Kiev, along with an interest rate of 4% per year.

The U.S. will control an investment fund to support recovery for Ukraine as part of the agreement.

Since then, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly stated that they are still considering the terms, while Zelensky has complained that the U.S. has changed the initial terms of the agreement.

Trump has accused Zelensky of trying to back out of the agreement and warned that Ukraine would face major problems if this scenario occurred.

Neither the U.S., Ukraine, nor Russia have commented on this information.

Information about the U.S. interest in the Gazprom pipeline comes amid reports that in March, Washington reportedly initiated negotiations to restore and reactivate the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, according to Western media.

Nord Stream 2, built to complement Nord Stream 1, was completed in 2021 but has never been put into operation. In September 2022, the pipelines were attacked through a series of underwater explosions, causing severe leaks.

The U.S. is reportedly visiting the headquarters of the companies operating the Nord Stream in Zug, Switzerland, to negotiate an agreement.

The potential agreement is said to allow U.S. investors to prevent the Nord Stream 2 project from going bankrupt by purchasing shares in the company.

According to Bild, U.S. investors will act as intermediaries to supply Russian gas to Germany and Central Europe through the pipeline. If the pipeline resumes operations after a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, the U.S. will profit from this agreement. Additionally, it would give Washington significant influence over Germany's energy supply, Bild reported.

According to: TASS

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