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Rare earths deal reached between Ukraine and US

2025-02-25 21:10:45Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Rare earths deal reached between Ukraine and US
Zelensky and Trump

Kiev has agreed with Washington to a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration and pave the way for a long-term US security commitment.

Ukrainian officials say Kiev is now ready to sign the agreement on the joint development of its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped demands for the right to $500 billion in potential revenue from resource exploitation.

Although the text lacks clear security guarantees, officials argued that they had negotiated much more favorable terms and described the agreement as a way to expand relations with the US to support Ukraine's prospects after three years of war.

“The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard many times from the US administration that it is part of a bigger picture,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister who has led the negotiations, told the Financial Times on Tuesday.

After President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected that initial text last week, Trump called him a "dictator" and appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war.

The final version of the agreement, dated February 24 and seen by the FT, would create a fund to which Ukraine would contribute 50 percent of the proceeds from the “future monetization” of state-owned mineral resources, including oil and gas, and related logistics. The fund would invest in projects in Ukraine.

It excludes mineral resources that already contribute to the Ukrainian government's coffers, meaning it would not cover the existing activities of Naftogaz or Ukrnafta, Ukraine's largest gas and oil producers.

However, the agreement does not refer to the US security guarantees that Kiev had initially insisted on in exchange for accepting the deal. It also leaves key questions such as the size of the US stake in the fund and the terms of the “joint ownership” arrangements to be spelled out in subsequent agreements.

After three years in which the US was the main donor of military aid to Kiev, Trump has reversed Washington's policy by opening bilateral talks with Russia, without any European allies or Ukraine at the table.

Ukrainian officials said the agreement had been approved by the justice, economy and foreign ministers, and envisaged the possibility of Zelensky traveling to the White House in the coming weeks for a signing ceremony with Trump.

"This will be a chance for the president to discuss what the bigger picture is. And then after that, we'll be able to think about the next steps," one official said.

The Trump administration's initial comprehensive proposal called for a reconstruction investment fund in which the US "retains 100 percent financial interest."

Ukraine will contribute 50 percent of the fund's revenues from the extraction of mineral resources, including oil and gas and related infrastructure, up to a maximum of $500 billion.

These conditions, described as unacceptable by Ukrainian officials, have been removed from the final draft.

The mandate for the fund to invest in Ukraine is a further change that Kiev had sought. The document says the US will support Ukraine's economic development in the future.

Zelensky's government will also have to seek approval from Ukraine's parliament, where opposition lawmakers have signaled they would at least have a heated debate before ratifying such a deal.

Caroline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Tuesday that it was "critical that this agreement be signed," although she did not provide an update on the talks.


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