US, Ukraine sign minerals deal after intense negotiation | World News

The United States has announced that it has signed an “economic partnership agreement” with Ukraine that will allow Washington access to Kyiv’s rare earth minerals in exchange for a joint fund to invest in Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Washington and Kyiv have been engaged in intense negotiations for a couple of months to reach an agreement to provide the United States with access to Ukraine’s natural resources. A US Treasury Department press release states that the two countries have mutually agreed to form a “Reconstruction Investment Fund”.
“In recognition of the significant financial and material support that the people of the United States have provided to the defense of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion, this economic partnership positions our two countries to…accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery,” the US Treasury Department said.

Thanks to @POTUS @realDonaldTrump’s tireless efforts to secure a lasting peace, I am glad to announce the signing of today’s horic economic partnership agreement between the United States and Ukraine establishing the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund to help… pic.twitter.com/N1jPa35DYh
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) April 30, 2025
A draft of the minerals agreement states that both the US and Ukraine would collaborate to ensure that “mutual assets, talents, and capabilities” can accelerate Kyiv’s recovery.
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The draft states that the US does get preferential access to Ukraine’s natural resources but Washington doesn’t get Kyiv’s mineral wealth or any gas infrastructure. Instead, the deal talks about creating a joint US-Ukraine investment fund for reconstruction which would receive 50% of profits and royalties accruing to the Ukrainian state from new natural resources permits, Reuters reported.

The initial agreement, due to be signed in February, fell apart after heated exchange between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump during their meeting at the Oval Office in White House.
However, the deal comes at a critical juncture in the war as Trump has increasingly grown frustrated with Russian and Ukrainian leaders for dragging the war and not finalising a ceasefire agreement. Last week, Trump had met Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral.
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