Ukraine, US sign minerals deal

Ukraine and the United States on Wednesday signed a long-awaited minerals agreement that establishes a joint investment fund in Ukraine, First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced. "I am grateful to everyone who worked for the agreement and made it more meaningful. Now the document is such that it can ensure success for both our countries — Ukraine and the United States," Svyrydenko said. Svyrydenko traveled to Washington April 30 to sign the framework agreement on behalf of Ukraine. She signed the document along with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The landmark deal grants the US privileged access to Ukraine's critical natural resources, including aluminium, graphite, oil, and natural gas, and gives American investors priority access to key development projects.The signing of the minerals deal follows months of negotiations that at times became contentious. The U.S. and Ukraine were set to sign the deal in late February, but the plan fell apart following the infamous White House argument between President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump.
"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 in a U.S. Treasury Department press release. The deal will not allow any "state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine" to profit from Ukraine's reconstruction, Bessent said. The "Reconstruction Investment Fund" will be jointly managed by Kyiv and Washington in an equal partnership, with both sides contributing to the fund. Ukraine will retain "full control over subsoil, infrastructure, and natural resources," the prime minister said. The establishment of the fund will also not interfere with Ukraine's path to membership in the European Union.The fund's income and contributions will not be taxed in Ukraine or the U.S., she added.