kyiv/Washington: Ukraine and the United States said Wednesday that they were ready to sign a mineral agreement imminently after months of sometimes loaded negotiations, but an inconvenience of the time injected uncertainty at the time.
“Our team is ready to sign. The Ukrainians decided last night to make some last minute changes,” said the United States Treasury Secretary Scott Besent, to the White House journalists.
“We are sure that they will reconsider that and we are ready, if they are.”
A Ukrainian official was on his way to Washington for the firm. However, a source said that the United States was pressing Ukraine to sign two additional documents, and Kyiv felt it was premature.
Besent denied that the United States would have tried to alter the agreement agreed over the weekend.
The agreement, which would give the United States access to the mineral deposits of Ukraine, is essential for kyiv’s efforts to repair ties with the president of the United States, Donald Trump and the White House, while Trump presses a peace agreement in the Russian war in Ukraine.
Two sources told Reuters that the firm could still happen later on Wednesday. The first vice president of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, flew to the United States to sign the agreement, said the country’s prime minister previously.
A draft of the main mineral agreement seen by Reuters showed that Ukraine had ensured the elimination of any requirement to pay the United States for past military assistance: a clause that Ukraine had firmly opposed.
Washington has been the largest military donor in Ukraine since the invasion of Russia 2022, with help for a total of more than 64 billion euros ($ 72 billion), according to the Kiel Institute in Germany.
Trump repeated on Wednesday that the United States should receive something in exchange for his last help to kyiv, hence the effort to ensure access to the rich deposits of rare land minerals of Ukraine.
“I guess they will honor the deal … we have not really seen the fruits of that agreement yet. I suspect that we will,” Trump said after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Ukrainian officials hope that signing the agreement promoted by Trump will strengthen US support for kyiv in the war for more than three years.
The draft in accordance grants the preferential access of the United States to the new Ukrainian natural resources agreements, but does not automatically grant Washington a part of the mineral wealth of Ukraine or its gas infrastructure.
“In fact, it is a strategic agreement … It is a truly the same and equal international agreement on joint investments in the development and recovery of Ukraine,” said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
The draft did not include any specific US security guarantee for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s initial objectives. Separate, Ukraine has discussed with European allies the creation of an international force to help guarantee the security of Ukraine in case a peace agreement with Russia is reached.
Joint Fund
The draft of the minerals establishes the creation of a Joint Fund of American-Ukrainian reconstruction, which will receive 50% of the accumulated profits and royalties for the Ukrainian state of new natural resources permits.
The draft does not clarify how the fund’s income will be spent, who benefits or who maintains control over spending decisions.
Shmyhal said on television that once the main agreement was signed, both parties would agree on two other technical and complementary documents that cover details such as the accumulation of funds.
He said that Ukraine would retain total control of his resources under the agreement, while the fund would invest in the development of Ukraine for 10 years.
“Ukraine will only contribute new licenses, new royalties on mineral resources. This will be our contribution, of 50% of which will be assigned to this fund,” he said.
The United States could use future military assistance to Ukraine as its contribution to the fund, added Shmyhal, without previous help.
The two parties signed a memorandum on April 18 as an initial step to end an agreement on the development of mineral resources. In the memorandum, both parties aimed to complete the conversations before April 26 and sign the agreement as soon as possible.
Trump and the members of his administration have threatened this month of abandoning peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine unless there is a clear progress soon.
