US and Ukraine sign long-awaited natural resources deal

The US has signed a deal with Ukraine on the joint exploitation of its energy and mineral resources, after months of tense negotiations.

The two countries have agreed to establish a reconstruction investment fund to spur Ukraine’s economic recovery from its war with Russia.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it showed both sides were committed to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. For Kyiv, the deal is seen as essential to accessing US military aid.

Ukraine is believed to have vast reserves of critical minerals like graphite, titanium and lithium. They are highly sought after because of their use in renewable energy, military applications and industrial infrastructure.

The agreement comes amid a US trade war with China, where 90% of the world’s current rare-earth stocks are sourced.

According to the statement from the US Treasury on Wednesday afternoon, the newly created US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund recognises the “significant financial and material support” the US has given Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.

The US treasury secretary said in a video statement that the deal would help “unlock Ukraine’s growth assets”.

The language of the announcement shows much more solidarity with Ukraine than is usual for the Trump administration.

It refers to “Russia’s full scale invasion” and adds that “no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.

The Kremlin has not yet responded to the agreement.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko – who flew to Washington to ink the deal on Wednesday – said in a post on X that the new fund would “attract global investment into our country”.

Listing the deal’s provisions, she said it would involve projects in minerals, oil and gas, although the resources would remain the property of Ukraine.

The partnership will be equal, on a 50:50 basis, she added, and must be ratified by lawmakers in Kyiv.

Under the deal, the US would contribute new assistance to Kyiv, she added, including, for example, air defence systems.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for the agreement as a prerequisite to offering any future security guarantees to Kyiv.

Crucially, the draft of the deal indicates Ukraine will be giving Washington access to some of its natural resources in return for future US security assistance.

But that is significantly less than what Trump had wanted, which was to get paid back for all US military aid given since the start of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has managed to eke out some concessions from Washington.

The deal was delayed after US authorities said Kyiv was trying to make last-minute changes.

On Wednesday afternoon, a US source familiar with the talks criticised Ukraine for seeking to reopen some terms that had apparently been finalised over the weekend.

The source said sticking points had included governance of the fund, issues with transparency, and steps to ensure that all funds would be fully traceable.

Technical documents were signed last week by representatives of both countries.

The initial agreement was due to be signed in February, but fell apart following a heated exchange at the White House when Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three”.

The breakthrough comes days after Trump and Zelensky held a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral, and as talks between Moscow and Washington over a possible ceasefire in Ukraine grind on.

Phoning into the NewsNation network on Wednesday evening, Trump said he had pressed Zelensky at Vatican City to seal the deal.

“I was telling him that it’s a very good thing if we can produce a deal that you sign it,” he said, “because Russia is much bigger and much stronger. Russia is just chugging forward.”

The US president said the deal would recuperate the multi-billion dollar US assistance to Ukraine since the war began and “much more in theory”.

“So I went to them and said, ‘Look, we got to get rare earth.’ They have great rare earth, meaning certain minerals, materials,” said Trump.

“They have things that a lot of places don’t have. It’s a big asset that they have.”