Ukraine has considered a new the US proposal on access to minerals. The provisions turned out to be stricter than those that Kyiv rejected as too burdensome.
This was reported by The New York Times (NYT), after reviewing the draft agreement.
Within the framework of the document, Kyiv must give up half of its own revenues from natural resources, including minerals, gas and oil, as well as revenues from ports and other infrastructure.
Washington expects Ukraine to direct resource revenues to a fund in which the United States will have a 100% financial stake. In return, Ukraine will be required to contribute until the fund reaches $500 billion, the amount that US President Donald Trump has demanded as compensation for US assistance in the war against Russia.
The figure far exceeds the stateʼs actual resource revenues, which amounted to $1.1 billion last year, according to NYT. The amount Trump cited is also more than four times the total cost of aid provided by the United States, the publication writes.
The new draft agreement deals with revenues from regions occupied by the Russian Federation in the event of their liberation: the share of revenues from mining in these territories will be 66% of the total revenues to the fund.
The document also stipulates that the United States can reinvest part of the proceeds in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, for example, by investing in the development of its mineral resources and infrastructure.
However, the agreement still does not contain specific security commitments from Washington. It does mention the intention to provide Kyiv with long-term financial support to help the countryʼs economic development.
The US wants Ukrainian minerals
The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brought a pilot draft of a minerals agreement to Ukraine on February 12. Washington had hoped that Kyiv would sign it immediately. President Zelensky said that he had banned the agreement from being signed because it would not protect Ukraine’s interests — it had no connection to investments, profits, or security guarantees.
Previously, Trump had stated that Ukraine had "essentially agreed" to transfer half a trillion dollars worth of rare earth metals to Washington as payment for American military aid.
Ukraine is ready to sign an agreement on rare earth metals, but Kyiv needs security guarantees, which were not there. Zelensky added: "The document was clear in only one thing — we must give 50% of everything that is listed there."
- The other day, Bloomberg wrote that representatives of Kyiv and Washington plan to normalize transatlantic relations within a week to reach an agreement on a minerals deal.
- According to Reuters, the US negotiators pressuring Ukraine to sign the deal threatened to disconnect Ukraine from the Starlink satellite communications system, a claim later denied by Elon Musk.
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