Ukraine and US sign much-awaited minerals deal: As it happened

Although the full text has not been made public, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliya Sviridenko said that 50% of the revenue from new licenses in the fields of critical materials, oil, and gas will be directed to the United States–Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.

She stated that the fund will be jointly managed “on a 50/50 basis,” and that “neither side will hold a dominant vote.” Sviridenko emphasized that Ukraine retains “full ownership and control” over all of its natural resources, as well as its state-owned energy companies.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the agreement will “allow the United States to invest alongside Ukraine, unlock Ukraine’s growth assets, mobillize American talent, capital and governance standards that will improve Ukraine’s investment climate and accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery.”

According to Reuters, the two sides also signed a draft agreement that would give the US preferential access to future deals involving Ukraine’s natural resources. However, the draft would not automatically grant the US a stake in Ukraine’s mineral deposits or gas infrastructure, the news agency reported, citing a copy of the document.

Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliya Sviridenko said that the US will provide “direct financial contributions” to the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.

“Ukraine will contribute 50% of state budget revenues from NEW rent on NEW licenses for NEW areas. Ukraine may also make additional contributions beyond this baseline if it chooses,” she wrote on X.

She added that the fund will invest in “extraction projects for critical materials, oil, and gas – as well as in related infrastructure and processing,” with projects to be selected jointly by Ukraine and the US.

“We expect that for the first 10 years, Fund profits and revenues will not be distributed, but instead reinvested into Ukraine – into new projects or reconstruction. These terms will be subject to further discussion,” Sviridenko said.

She said that, under the agreement, the US may provide additional military aid, including air defense systems.

Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka told Axios that the agreement grants the US preferential access to investments in the extraction of rare-earth minerals, including the first right of refusal for such projects.

“This agreement is a win-win, and it is written in friendly language,” Kachka said.

Ukraine has managed to remove a requirement to repay the US for past military aid, Reuters reported, citing a draft of the agreement reviewed earlier on Wednesday.

Bloomberg reported that the fund “would be controlled by Washington.”

The US Treasury said earlier that it, along with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), will work with Kiev to “finalize program governance and advance this important partnership.”

Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham said the agreement “will be tremendously beneficial to the American economy, create strong and lasting ties between our two nations, and will solidify going forward that a relationship with Ukraine is an asset to America.”

Graham was one of the first American politicians to highlight the importance of Ukraine’s mineral wealth, describing the country as a “gold mine.”

Politico reported earlier this month that Western nations have grown increasingly alarmed by the prospect of losing Ukraine’s resources to Russia.

The Washington Post reported that the agreement does not provide any concrete security guarantees to Ukraine. Instead, it proclaims a “long-term strategic alignment” between the US and Ukraine and states that Washington supports “Ukraine’s security, prosperity, reconstruction, and integration into global economic frameworks.”