The United States and Ukraine on Wednesday signed the much-anticipated minerals deal, giving Washington access to Kyiv’s rare earth minerals in exchange for establishing an investment fund in Ukraine. The US treasury department stated that the deal would help Ukraine with its post-war reconstruction efforts.
The US and Ukraine have been trying to reach the natural resources agreement ever since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. Trump had consistently insisted on reaching the agreement as a condition before providing any future security assurances to Kyiv amid Ukraine’s defence against Russia.
The development comes after weeks of intense negotiations that turned bitter several times and temporarily derailed Washington’s aid to Ukraine.
Announcing that both countries signed the agreement, the US Treasury Department Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said: “As the President has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war.”
On April 30, the United States and Ukraine signed an agreement to establish the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.
This historic economic partnership clearly signals the Trump Administration’s commitment to a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/cKUACUhet9
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) April 30, 2025
He also said that the deal “signals to Russia” that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process.
“This 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,” Bessent said, as reported by CNN. “And 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.”
Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was in Washington to sign on behalf of Kyiv.
In a post on X on Wednesday, she said that the terms of the agreement include “full ownership and control” staying with Ukraine. “All resources on our territory and in territorial waters belong to Ukraine,” she said, adding: “It is the Ukrainian state that determines what and where to extract. Subsoil remains under Ukrainian ownership — this is clearly established in the Agreement.”
Svyrydenko also said that the fund created by the agreement would “attract global investment into our country,” BBC reported.
Earlier on Wednesday Bessent had said that the US was ready to sign the deal by afternoon, and that Ukraine “decided to make last-minute changes” to the agreement.
The deal was supposed to be signed by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky during his trip to Washington in February. However, the agreement was left unsigned when his visit was cut short following the Oval Office spat.
