The USA and Ukraine sign critical minerals

The United States has signed a highly expected natural resource contract with Ukraine, which the finance department said that they would help with the post -war reconstruction efforts.

President Donald Trump repeatedly urged the agreement as a prerequisite for offering Kyiv future security guarantees while the Ukraine is fighting against the invasion of Russia.

In an explanation, the United States said that the agreement “to Russia” signaled that the Trump government “is obliged to a peace process that focuses on free, sovereign and prospering Ukraine.

The deal creates a common Ukrainian US investment fund to look for minerals and determines how the income would be shared.

According to the declaration of the US Ministry of Finance on Wednesday afternoon, the newly created US Ukraine reconstruction investment fund recognizes the “significant financial and material support” that the United States has entered into Ukraine since Russia in February 2022.

“President Trump introduced this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show the commitment of the two sides for permanent peace and prosperity in Ukraine,” said finance Minister Scott Bessent in the statement.

“And to be clear, no state or no person who has financed or delivered the Russian war machine can benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine,” he added.

In a video declaration, he said that the deal would “help” to unlock the growth capacity of Ukraine “.

The deputy prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, flew to Washington on Wednesday after an obvious breakthrough in the negotiations.

In a post on X, Svyrydenko said – in front of the financial building in Washington – that the fund created by the agreement would “include global investments in our country”.

The announcement takes place after a delay, which the US authorities are due to Ukraine, which has tried to negotiate the aspects of the deal that have already been taken over.

“We are ready to sign this afternoon when they are,” Bessent said earlier on Wednesday and added that the Ukraine “decided to change the contract agreement at the last minute.”

On Wednesday afternoon, a US source familiar with the conversations criticized the Ukraine for the fact that they wanted to reopen some terms that were obviously completed over the weekend.

Both of the US teams in the USA and the Ukrainian teams worked through the night on Friday until Saturday to agree to the documents and until the early morning on Wednesday, the BBC source said.

They added that the sticking points included the governance of the fund, the transparency mechanism and the steps to ensure that all funds are fully understandable.

“Nothing was removed,” said Bessent earlier when he was asked about changes to the deal. “It is the same agreement that we agreed at the weekend. No changes to our side.”

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

It is believed that Ukraine reserves intensely with critical rare minerals such as graphite, titanium and lithium under its floor. Because of their use in renewable energies, military applications and industrial infrastructures, they are very much in demand.

The urge of the Trump government to access the mineral assets of another country comes in a growing trade war with China, where 90% of the world’s current rare -facts are related.

The design of the deal seemed to enable the USA beyond minerals to have extensive access to the Ukrainian industries.

While it did not find any security support that Washington would provide in return, it is said that the deal was “a tangible demonstration of the support of the United States of the America for the security of Ukraine”.

The agreement takes place days after Trump and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had held a personal meeting on the sidelines of the funeral of Pope Francis, and as discussions between Moscow and Washington about a possible ceasefire in Ukraine.

The latest talks from Trump-Zelensky seemed much cheaper than theirs Meeting in the White House in FebruaryAnd in the following days, led to an expiry of the US President’s tone towards his Ukrainian counterpart and an increased criticism of Russia.

On Wednesday, Trump said: “As you know, we are looking for rare earth all the time.

“You have a lot and we did a deal so that we can start digging and doing what we have to do. It’s also good for you.”

The initial agreement was to be signed in February, but after the heated exchange between the two guides fell apart when Trump accused Zelensky of “playing with the Second World War”.