The United States and Ukraine have signed the long-planned mineral agreement, which will grant the US access to the so-called rare earths of the country, which is at war with Russia. In return, the US will establish an investment fund in Ukraine.
According to the US Treasury Department on Wednesday (local time), the US is committed to supporting the end of “this gruesome and senseless war.” “This agreement clearly signals to Russia that the Trump administration is engaged in a peace process aimed at a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine in the long term” said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. And he added: “And to be clear: No state or person who finances or supplies the Russian war machine will benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
For Ukraine, the agreement was signed by the country’s Minister of Economy and Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Swyrydenko, who traveled to Washington for the occasion. According to the terms of the agreement, “full ownership and control” will remain with Ukraine, she wrote on Twitter/X on Wednesday. “All resources on our territory and in our exclusive economic zone belong to Ukraine” she said and added: “The Ukrainian state determines what and where to extract. The land remains in Ukrainian ownership – this is clearly stated in the agreement.”
Originally, it was expected that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would sign the agreement during his visit to Washington in February. However, the meeting in the Oval Office ended in a disaster, with Zelensky, Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence, getting into a heated argument on live camera. The main point of contention was the security guarantees demanded by Ukraine, which Trump refused. After the two had walked away from the argument, the tone became more conciliatory in the aftermath. Trump and Zelensky met again last weekend at the Pope’s funeral in Rome, this time they were able to have a confidential conversation.