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KYIV: After months of tense negotiations, the US and Ukraine signed a deal that is expected to give Washington access to the country’s critical minerals and other natural resources, an agreement Kyiv hopes will secure long-term support for its defense against Russia.
According to Ukrainian officials, the version of the deal signed Wednesday is far more beneficial to Ukraine than previous versions, which they said reduced Kyiv to a junior partner and gave Washington unprecedented rights to the country’s resources.
The agreement — which the Ukrainian parliament must ratify — would establish a reconstruction fund for Ukraine that Ukrainian officials hope will be a vehicle to ensure future American military assistance. A previous agreement was nearly signed before being derailed in a tense Oval Office meeting involving US President Donald Trump, US Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We have formed a version of the agreement that provides mutually beneficial conditions for both countries. This is an agreement in which the United States notes its commitment to promoting long-term peace in Ukraine and recognizes the contribution that Ukraine has made to global security by giving up its nuclear arsenal,” Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who signed the deal for Ukraine, said in a post on Facebook.
The signing comes during what US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said would be a “very critical” week for US-led efforts to end the war that appear to have stalled. Ukraine sees the deal as a way to ensure that its biggest and most consequential ally stays engaged and doesn’t freeze military support, which has been key in its 3-year-old fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who signed for the US, said in a statement.
Here is a look at the deal.
What does the deal include?
The deal covers minerals, including rare earth elements, but also other valuable resources, including oil and natural gas, according to the text released by Ukraine’s government.
It does not include resources that are already a source of revenue for the Ukrainian state. In other words, any profits under the deal are dependent on the success of new investments. Ukrainian officials have also noted that it does not refer to any debt obligations for Kyiv, meaning profits from the fund will likely not go toward the paying the US back for its previous support.
Officials have also emphasized that the agreement ensures full ownership of the resources remains with Ukraine, and the state will determine what can be extracted and where.
It does not mention any explicit security guarantees to deter future Russian aggression that Ukraine has long insisted on.
The text of the deal lists 55 minerals but says more can be agreed to.
Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in Ukraine’s rare earth elements, and some of them are included in the list, as are other critical minerals, such as titanium, lithium and uranium.
What are rare earth elements?
They are a group of 17 elements that are essential to many kinds of consumer technology, including cellphones, hard drives and electric and hybrid vehicles.
China is the world’s largest producer of rare earth elements, and both the US and Europe have sought to reduce their dependence on Beijing, Trump’s chief geopolitical adversary.
They include elements such as lanthanum, cerium and scandium, which are listed in the deal.
How will the fund work?
The agreement establishes a reconstruction investment fund, and both the US and Ukraine will have an equal say in its management, according to Svyrydenko.
The fund will be supported by the US government through the US International Development Finance Corporation agency, which Ukraine hopes will attract investment and technology from American and European countries.
Ukraine is expected to contribute 50 percent of all future profits from government-owned natural resources into the fund. The United States will also contribute in the form of direct funds and equipment, including badly needed air defense systems and other military aid.
Contributions to the fund will be reinvested in projects related to mining, oil and gas as well as infrastructure.
No profits will not be taken from the fund for the first 10 years, Svyrydenko said.
Trump administration officials initially pushed for a deal in which Washington would receive $500 billion in profits from exploited minerals as compensation for its wartime support.
But Zelensky rejected the offer, saying he would not sign off on an agreement “that will be paid off by 10 generations of Ukrainians.”
What is the state of Ukraine’s minerals industry?
Ukraine’s rare earth elements are largely untapped because of state policies regulating the industry, a lack of good information about deposits, and the war.
The industry’s potential is unclear since geological data is thin because mineral reserves are scattered across Ukraine, and existing studies are considered largely inadequate, according to businessmen and analysts.
In general, however, the outlook for Ukrainian natural resources is promising. The country’s reserves of titanium, a key component for the aerospace, medical and automotive industries, are believed to be among Europe’s largest. Ukraine also holds some of Europe’s largest known reserves of lithium, which is required to produce batteries, ceramics and glass.
In 2021, the Ukrainian mineral industry accounted for 6.1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and 30 percent of exports.
An estimated 40 percent of Ukraine’s metallic mineral resources are inaccessible because of Russian occupation, according to data from We Build Ukraine, a Kyiv-based think tank. Ukraine has argued that it’s in Trump’s interest to develop the remainder before Russian advances capture more.