US, Ukraine Sign deal granting Washington access to minerals in exchange for reconstruction fund

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, which would



receive 50 per cent of profits and royalties accruing to the Ukrainian state from new natural resources permits. 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.

The initial agreement, due to be signed in February, fell apart after a heated exchange between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump during their meeting at the Oval Office in the White House.