Ukraine’s government has announced the signing of an outline of a minerals agreement between the war-torn country and the United States.
Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stated that the memorandum of intent set the way for what she referred to as a “economic partnership agreement.”
She stated that the final agreement would include an investment fund for Ukraine’s rehabilitation.
U.S officials expressed optimism that an agreement might be achieved by the end of next week.
Donald Trump’s public spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in February briefly threw the negotiations off track.
Svyrydenko announced the signature of the memorandum on X but did not disclose any other information.
Svyrydenko wrote “We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.”
The signing was conducted over an online call with Bessent who said the details of the deal were still being worked out.
“It’s substantially what we’d agreed on previously. When the president [Volodymyr Zelensky] was here, we had a memorandum of understanding. We went straight to the big deal, and I think it’s an 80-page agreement and that’s what we’ll be signing,” he said.
The move is a step towards a deal that would allow the US access to Ukraine’s critical minerals, as well as oil and gas.
Previous reports indicated that an “investment fund” would be set up for Ukraine’s reconstruction and would be managed by Kyiv and Washington on “equal terms”.
President Volodymyr Zelensky had been hoping to use the deal to secure a US security guarantee in his country in the event of a ceasefire deal with Russia.
