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The United States and Ukraine announced on Wednesday the creation of a new reconstruction and investment fund, formalizing an economic agreement between the two countries that is intended to give the United States access to proceeds from Ukraine\u2019s reserves of minerals.<\/p>\n
The agreement concludes months of fraught negotiations over whether the United States will continue to provide support for Ukraine as it tries to broker an end to its three-year war with Russia. The deal is intended to provide Ukraine with an implicit security arrangement while addressing President Trump\u2019s concerns that the United States has provided Kyiv with a blank check to try to withstand to Russia\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis 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,\u201d Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. \u201cPresident Trump envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides\u2019 commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The Trump administration did not immediately provide details about the agreement, and it was not clear what it meant for the future of American military support for Ukraine. Despite the fanfare, the deal will have little significance if fighting between Ukraine and Russia persists.<\/p>\n
While the announcement made no mention of Ukraine\u2019s minerals, a Treasury Department spokesman said that the deal did refer to the natural resources pact that had been the subject of negotiations.<\/p>\n
The Treasury Department said that the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation would work with Ukraine to finalize the details of the agreement.<\/p>\n
In a post on Telegram<\/a>, Ukraine\u2019s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, wrote that the two countries would have equal voting rights over the fund and that Ukraine would retain full control over its subsoil, infrastructure and natural resources. It also said that profits from the investment fund would be reinvested in Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks to this agreement, we will be able to attract significant resources for reconstruction, start economic growth, and receive the latest technologies from partners and a strategic investor in the United States,\u201d Mr. Shmyhal said, according to a translation of his post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The deal had been delayed after an explosive meeting in the Oval Office in late February between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. In the two months since then, the major sticking point in the negotiations centered on whether the American aid given to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 would be treated as debt that Ukraine needed to repay.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump said that Ukraine should repay the money. Ukrainian officials said agreeing to do so would financially punish the country for generations.<\/p>\n Ukraine initially proposed drawing American investment into mining in Ukraine as an incentive for the United States to back any peace deal with security guarantees to prevent Russian aggression in the future.<\/p>\n But talks on the deal were contentious from their start in February. Besides saying that Ukraine needed to repay the United States for its help, Mr. Trump has also said that Ukraine should look to Europe, not the United States, for any security guarantees.<\/p>\n Earlier drafts had swiveled between what critics called a brazen extortion of Ukraine<\/a> by the Trump administration and versions that included points sought by Ukraine, such as references to U.S. support for postwar security guarantees. Without them, Ukraine says, Russia could quickly violate any cease-fire or restart the war after regrouping and rearming. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky were meant to sign a deal at the White House in February. But instead of signing it, Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian leader<\/a> in front of TV cameras, saying he was not grateful enough for U.S. assistance. Mr. Zelensky was asked to leave.<\/p>\n The Trump administration then briefly suspended the delivery of all U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine<\/a>. Mr. Trump said Mr. Zelensky \u201cshould be more appreciative\u201d to restart negotiations.<\/p>\n Mr. Zelensky came forward with an overture the next day, calling the Oval Office meeting \u201cregrettable.\u201d<\/p>\n Some in and outside Ukraine have seen the deal as nothing more than the United States taking advantage of Ukraine\u2019s reliance on American weaponry and financial support to win control of valuable natural resources, without offering strong guarantees in return. American negotiators have said that U.S. investment would deter future aggression.<\/p>\n In a memorandum of intent to conclude the deal, signed on April 16, Ukraine and the United States outlined an agreement to form a fund for investment in postwar rebuilding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In addition to opening opportunities for U.S. companies in mining, oil or natural gas, the fund could steer reconstruction work, expected to be a multibillion-dollar business if a cease-fire is reached, to American companies.<\/p>\n But Mr. Zelensky has made clear that the minerals agreement is not an end in itself. Wrapping up the deal is aimed at clearing the way to more consequential talks on U.S. military backing and on the terms of a possible cease-fire with Russia, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively,\u201d Mr. Zelensky said in March in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ukrainian authorities say the country holds deposits of more than 20 critical minerals<\/a>; one consulting firm valued them as being worth several trillion dollars<\/a>. But they may not be easy to extract, and the Soviet-era maps outlining where the critical deposits are have never been modernized nor have they all been thoroughly vetted.<\/p>\n Ukraine now earns about $1 billion a year in natural resources royalties, far below the hundreds of billions of dollars Mr. Trump said he expected the United States to gain from the agreement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The revenue-sharing deal comes at a perilous moment for Ukraine: Russian forces have seized the advantage on the battlefield, and Mr. Trump has drawn closer<\/a> to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.<\/p>\n A cease-fire deal proposed by the United States \u2014 at least the terms that have been made public \u2014 favors Russia. It would force Kyiv to abandon its aspirations of joining NATO, would offer Ukraine only vague security guarantees and would see the United States officially recognizing Crimea as Russian. Ukraine<\/a> has rejected that deal.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to walk away from peace negotiations. On Sunday, Mr. Trump said he wanted a cease-fire deal in two weeks or less \u2014 later on, he said a little more time might be acceptable.<\/p>\n But Mr. Trump has also insisted that the minerals deal needed to be signed. On Friday, he said Ukraine was at least three weeks late in signing the minerals agreement with the U.S. \u201cHopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY,\u201d he wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n There was some uncertainty about the deal on Wednesday, as Ukrainian officials arrived in Washington and indicated that they were seeking some late changes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n During a cabinet meeting at the White House, Mr. Bessent expressed optimism that the agreement, which he said was reached in principle over the weekend, would soon be signed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Ukrainians decided last night to make some last-minute changes,\u201d Mr. Bessent said. \u201cWe\u2019re sure that they will reconsider that and we are ready to sign this afternoon if they are.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassandra Vinograd, Constant M\u00e9heut and Oleksandra Mykolyshyn contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n