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Published : 02 May 2025, 10:10 AM
Kyiv and Washington on Thursday hailed a deal giving the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals as a milestone that a top US official said would strengthen President Donald Trump's negotiating position with Russia.
The Kremlin was silent on Wednesday's agreement, but former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said it meant Trump had "broken the Kyiv regime" because Ukraine would have to pay for US military aid with mineral resources.
The accord, which was signed in Washington and heavily promoted by Trump, establishes a joint investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction as the US president tries to secure a peace settlement in Russia's three-year-old war in Ukraine.
The agreement grants the US preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals projects. It is central to Ukraine's efforts to mend ties with the White House, which frayed after Trump took office in January.
The deal will show the "Russian leadership that there is no daylight between the Ukrainian people and the American people, between our goals," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business Network in an interview.
"And again, I think this is a strong signal to the Russian leadership, and it gives President Trump the ability to now negotiate with Russia on even a stronger basis," he said.
His remarks appeared to send a signal to Russia that Washington remains aligned with Kyiv despite question marks over its commitment to its ally since Trump's return to power upended US diplomacy.
The Ukrainian parliament must still approve the pact.
Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who signed the accord, told reporters in an online briefing that would happen in the next few weeks.
"We want to ratify it as soon as possible. So we plan to do it within the coming weeks," Svyrydenko said, adding that some technical details had to be completed before a joint US-Ukraine investment fund could become operational.
"We really need to be more sustainable and more self-sufficient, and this is a real tool that can help us achieve this goal," she said.
Ukraine's Economy Ministry said the two sides did not expect the agreement to begin generating revenue this year.
VATICAN TALKS WERE KEY
Senior Trump administration officials said three agreements had been signed - a framework deal and two technical accords - and that they expected Ukraine's parliament to approve them within a week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped there would be no delays in securing parliament's approval, although some lawmakers said they expected it to take longer than a week.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal met parliamentary factions at a closed meeting on Thursday. Some members complained they had not seen the text of the agreement or been properly consulted.
"The agreement has changed significantly in the preparation process," Zelensky said in a video posted on Telegram, hailing what he called a "truly equal agreement" that created opportunities for investment in Ukraine and the modernisation of industry and legal practices in his country.
He and Bessent both underlined that talks between Zelensky and Trump in Rome during Pope Francis' funeral on April 26 played an important role in securing a deal.
"In fact, now we have the first result of the Vatican meeting, which makes it truly historic," Zelensky said.
Kyiv has been highly dependent on US military supplies since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 and says Moscow has intensified attacks on Ukraine since the US stepped up efforts to secure a peace settlement.
Washington has signalled its frustration with the failure of Moscow and Kyiv to agree on terms, and Trump has shown signs of disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin for not moving faster towards peace.
Medvedev, who is now a senior security official in Russia, suggested Ukraine had been forced into the agreement.
"Trump has broken the Kyiv regime to the point where they will have to pay for US aid with mineral resources," he wrote on Telegram. "Now they (Ukrainians) will have to pay for military supplies with the national wealth of a disappearing country."
Ukraine's international debt rallied after the signing of the deal, which financial analysts said had come with better terms for Ukraine than they had originally thought likely.
Ukraine is rich in natural resources including rare earth metals used in consumer electronics, electric vehicles and military applications, among others. Global rare-earth mining is dominated by China, which is locked in a trade war with the US after Trump's sharp tariff increases.
Ukraine also has reserves of iron, uranium and natural gas.
