Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky will travel to Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on mineral resources, the American president has said
The US will “get back” the money it has spent on military and financial assistance to Kiev through an upcoming mineral deal with Ukraine, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday ahead of his first cabinet meeting. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky will travel to Washington on Friday to sign the agreement, Trump added.
Trump had initially demanded the equivalent of up to $500 billion worth of natural resources as compensation for the aid provided to Kiev. Washington proposed a deal that would grant the US sweeping rights to Ukraine’s reserves of natural resources as a form of compensation.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Trump said the Ukrainian leader “is going to be coming on Friday” and “that is now confirmed.” The two sides are expected to sign what the US president described as a “very big agreement” that will cover Ukraine’s reserves of rare-earth metals, among other things.
Trump reiterated his claim that the US has spent $350 billion on various forms of assistance to Kiev, adding that “we’ve been able to make a deal where we’re going to get our money back and we’re going to get a lot of money in the future.” American taxpayers “should not be footing the bill” for assisting Ukraine, he added.
The US president did not reveal the parameters of the future agreement.
Earlier on Wednesday, Zelensky confirmed to journalists that Ukraine and the US had agreed on a “framework” deal on the nation’s minerals. He insisted that the document does not include any mention of Ukrainian debt to the US “either amounting to $350 billion or $100 billion.” According to Zelensky, the agreement also says nothing about Kiev being obliged to compensate US expenditures on aiding Ukraine in a ratio of “2 to 1.”
The Ukrainian government reviewed and greenlighted the agreement on Wednesday, according to Prime Minister Denis Shmigal, who called it “an important step towards implementing a victory plan.” The Ukrainian media outlets Strana.ua and Evropeiskaya Pravda published what they claimed was the text of the future agreement.
According to the publications, Ukraine and the US will create a joint fund to which 50% of all revenues from the future development of Ukraine’s natural resources will accrue. Already existing enterprises are exempt from the arrangement. The accumulated assets can be used for investment in the Ukrainian economy “at least once a year,” according to the reports. In exchange, the US will reportedly “assume long-term financial obligations to develop a stable and… prosperous Ukraine.”
Washington will not offer any security guarantees to Kiev under the agreement and will only “support its efforts” to secure such guarantees in the future, the reports said. Strana.ua criticized the document as being too vague and full of loopholes that could be exploited by either side.
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