Ukraine and the US signed an agreement on Wednesday that will direct a portion of the revenues from the development of Ukraine’s natural resources into a joint investment fund.
Kiev hopes the deal will incentivize US President Donald Trump to maintain military and financial aid to Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia. The US has been attempting to broker a ceasefire since February, as Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and other top officials in Kiev have accused the Trump administration of promoting “pro-Russian” narratives.
The two sides initially planned to sign the agreement in February, but the deal fell through at the last minute after a meeting between Trump and Zelensky devolved into a heated argument. According to reports, US officials originally pushed for 50% American ownership of Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals – which Zelensky rejected at the time.
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01 May 2025
Reuters notes that the US-Ukraine resource deal does not provide Kiev with any security guarantees, despite this being “one of its initial goals.”
Commenting on the US-Ukraine mineral resources deal, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev argued that “Trump has roped the Kiev regime into paying for American aid with minerals.”
“Now military supplies will have to be paid for with the national wealth of the disappearing country.”
Trump has said he tried to persuade Zelensky to sign the resource deal with the US by arguing during the Vatican talks that “it will be a good thing… because Russia is much bigger and much stronger” than Ukraine.
The US rejected the idea of providing security guarantees to Ukraine as part of the resource deal “early in the process,” the New York Times has reported, citing a source.
It added that “despite the fanfare, the deal will have little significance if fighting between Ukraine and Russia persists.” Nevertheless, Kiev’s backers believe the agreement will make Trump regard Ukraine “as something more than a money pit and an obstacle to improved relation” with Moscow.
Following the signing of the deal, the Trump administration approved commercial arms sales to Ukraine of more than $50 million, the Kyiv Post has reported, citing sources. Earlier, Ukrainian officials said the US halted all arms sales to Kiev. Washington has not approved new aid packages for months.
The Kyiv Post report does not say, however, whether the US will resume support for Ukraine on an unconditional basis.
The US will “in theory” get much more than $350 billion from the resource deal with Ukraine, President Donald Trump has said, referring to Washington’s assessment of the total American aid to Kiev.
Ukrainian officials have insisted that the US aid was unconditional, estimating it at $90 billion.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy has confirmed earlier media reports that the deal “focuses on future, not past, US military assistance,” and that revenues from already active projects are not included in the joint investment fund.
According to Sviridenko, the agreement “includes no provisions regarding any Ukrainian debt obligations to the United States.”
Under the deal, Kiev maintains “full control over resources,” the Ministry of Economy has said, adding that “only Ukraine determines the conditions and places of extraction.” Economy Minister Yulia Sviridenko added that the agreement does not alter the results of the post-Soviet privatization process, or transfer state-owned companies into private hands.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy has released an overview of the deal’s terms, noting that “it will allow attracting additional investments, promote the development of innovations and the introduction of new technologies.” The US will help attract private and public investors – including foreign states – to the reconstruction of Ukraine.
American companies will also “gain access to new opportunities” through resource exploitation and Ukraine’s reconstruction, the ministry said.
US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told Fox Business that the minerals deal will strengthen Ukraine’s security.
“When America is your friend and your partner, your nation is going to be better off. And there is a security component just in our presence,” she said, describing the arrangement as “a perfect deal.”
Forbes argued that it is unclear whether mineral extraction in Ukraine would result in “a huge payoff” for the US
The magazine quoted George Ingall, a rare earths pricing analyst at Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, as saying that the minerals sought by the US “won’t be used to make a profit in the next 10 or 15 years.”
The Washington Post reported that the agreement does not provide any concrete security guarantees to Ukraine. Instead, it proclaims a “long-term strategic alignment” between the US and Ukraine and states that Washington supports “Ukraine’s security, prosperity, reconstruction, and integration into global economic frameworks.”
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham said the agreement “will be tremendously beneficial to the American economy, create strong and lasting ties between our two nations, and will solidify going forward that a relationship with Ukraine is an asset to America.”
Graham was one of the first American politicians to highlight the importance of Ukraine’s mineral wealth, describing the country as a “gold mine.”
Politico reported earlier this month that Western nations have grown increasingly alarmed by the prospect of losing Ukraine’s resources to Russia.
Bloomberg reported that the fund “would be controlled by Washington.”
The US Treasury said earlier that it, along with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), will work with Kiev to “finalize program governance and advance this important partnership.”
Ukraine has managed to remove a requirement to repay the US for past military aid, Reuters reported, citing a draft of the agreement reviewed earlier on Wednesday.
30 April 2025
Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka told Axios that the agreement grants the US preferential access to investments in the extraction of rare-earth minerals, including the first right of refusal for such projects.
“This agreement is a win-win, and it is written in friendly language,” Kachka said.
“We expect that for the first 10 years, Fund profits and revenues will not be distributed, but instead reinvested into Ukraine – into new projects or reconstruction. These terms will be subject to further discussion,” Sviridenko said.
She said that, under the agreement, the US may provide additional military aid, including air defense systems.
Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliya Sviridenko said that the US will provide “direct financial contributions” to the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.
“Ukraine will contribute 50% of state budget revenues from NEW rent on NEW licenses for NEW areas. Ukraine may also make additional contributions beyond this baseline if it chooses,” she wrote on X.
She added that the fund will invest in “extraction projects for critical materials, oil, and gas – as well as in related infrastructure and processing,” with projects to be selected jointly by Ukraine and the US.
According to Reuters, the two sides also signed a draft agreement that would give the US preferential access to future deals involving Ukraine’s natural resources. However, the draft would not automatically grant the US a stake in Ukraine’s mineral deposits or gas infrastructure, the news agency reported, citing a copy of the document.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the agreement will “allow the United States to invest alongside Ukraine, unlock Ukraine’s growth assets, mobillize American talent, capital and governance standards that will improve Ukraine’s investment climate and accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery.”
Although the full text has not been made public, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliya Sviridenko said that 50% of the revenue from new licenses in the fields of critical materials, oil, and gas will be directed to the United States–Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.
She stated that the fund will be jointly managed “on a 50/50 basis,” and that “neither side will hold a dominant vote.” Sviridenko emphasized that Ukraine retains “full ownership and control” over all of its natural resources, as well as its state-owned energy companies.