Ukraine faces tougher terms in new US minerals proposal – media — RT World News

The Trump administration has presented Ukraine with a revised draft agreement demanding full US ownership of an envisaged $500 billion fund derived from Ukraine’s natural resources. While the new proposal contains largely the same provisions that Kiev previously rejected, it appears to be even tougher, multiple media reports suggest.

Ukraine was presented with the revised proposal on Friday, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed Ukrainian officials and a draft of the deal. The new document outlines that the US would hold 100% ownership of the proposed fund, receiving the entirety of the financial interest from it. Under this arrangement, Ukraine would contribute half of the future revenues from its mineral extraction to the fund, as well as earnings from ports and other infrastructure.

The new document specifies the amount of $500 billion as the goal for the fund, unlike its previous version, the NYT noted. Previously, that sum had been mentioned by US President Donald Trump. The new draft still does not provide any specific security guarantees for Kiev, nor oblige the US to use the fund to invest in Ukraine, stating only that Washington could reinvest a portion of the revenue into the country’s reconstruction.

The apparently toughened proposal was corroborated in a separate report by the Ukrainian outlet NV, which spoke to five unnamed individuals with direct knowledge of the draft. According to the outlet, Kiev would contribute two-thirds to the fund, while the US would account for the remaining third through prior military aid. Proceeds from ports are not mentioned in the draft, NV noted, contradicting the NYT reporting.

The Ukrainian side has proposed to revising the size of the fund, arguing the $500 billion figure is too high, NV said. Apart from that, Kiev has urged the US to include a clause in the deal to allow the collected funds to be used only for investment in Ukraine.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, US President Donald Trump claimed the deal was “pretty close” and “we’d better be close to a deal.” The US president pledged to “get our money back,” confirming that Washington has been asking Kiev “for rare earth and oil – anything we can get.”