Peskov: Donetsk and four other places will not engage in any form of trade or transfer.

On February 23, local time, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's remarks after the meeting between Russia and the United States. He stressed that the process of negotiations between the heads of Russia and the US on the Ukraine issue should not be hindered in any way, and the two sides should smoothly realize their respective political will. In particular, Peskov noted that there will be no transactions or transfers of any kind in the four places, including Donetsk. In 2022, after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson joined the Russian Federation through referendums in September of that year. Recently, the United States proposed a so-called "rare earth for aid" mineral cooperation protocol to Ukraine. Ukraine is rich in rare earth reserves, of which lithium ore and titanium ore are the main components of Ukraine's rare earth resources. Although Ukraine's critical mineral resources are diverse, some of them are already under Russian control. On February 20, local time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he was ready to reach a protocol with the US president on investment and security issues.