US and Ukraine sign critical minerals deal
US, Ukraine Sign Economic Partnership Agreement on Rare Earths
The United States and Ukraine have signed an “economic partnership agreement” that will give Washington access to Kyiv’s rare earth minerals in exchange for establishing an investment fund in Ukraine.
The US and Ukraine have been trying to hammer out the natural resources agreement since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.
The deal comes after weeks of intense negotiations that at times turned bitter and temporarily derailed Washington’s aid to Ukraine.
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday announced that both countries signed the agreement. “As the President has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“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,” Bessent said. “And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was in Washington to sign on behalf of the Ukrainian government.
Among the terms of the agreement are “full ownership and control” staying with Ukraine, she posted on Wednesday.
“All resources on our territory and in territorial waters belong to Ukraine,” she said, adding: “It is the Ukrainian state that determines what and where to extract. Subsoil remains under Ukrainian ownership — this is clearly established in the Agreement.”
The signing comes hours after a last-minute disagreement over which documents to sign Wednesday threatened to derail the deal.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was expected to strike the deal during his trip to Washington in February – but the agreement was left unsigned when that visit was cut short following a contentious Oval Office meeting.
US, Ukraine Sign Economic Partnership Agreement on Rare Earths
The United States and Ukraine have signed an “economic partnership agreement” that will give Washington access to Kyiv’s rare earth minerals in exchange for establishing an investment fund in Ukraine.
The US and Ukraine have been trying to hammer out the natural resources agreement since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.
The deal comes after weeks of intense negotiations that at times turned bitter and temporarily derailed Washington’s aid to Ukraine.
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday announced that both countries signed the agreement. “As the President has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“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,” Bessent said. “And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was in Washington to sign on behalf of the Ukrainian government.
Among the terms of the agreement are “full ownership and control” staying with Ukraine, she posted on Wednesday.
“All resources on our territory and in territorial waters belong to Ukraine,” she said, adding: “It is the Ukrainian state that determines what and where to extract. Subsoil remains under Ukrainian ownership — this is clearly established in the Agreement.”
The signing comes hours after a last-minute disagreement over which documents to sign Wednesday threatened to derail the deal.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was expected to strike the deal during his trip to Washington in February – but the agreement was left unsigned when that visit was cut short following a contentious Oval Office meeting.