Ukrainian and US officials have signed a joint economic investment agreement, with the US having access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals, the US Treasury Department announced on April 30, local time.
The US Treasury Department's statement said that the US and Ukraine agreed to establish a "US-Ukraine reconstruction Investment Fund", considering it a "economic partnership".
The US Treasury Department's statement did not provide further details about the deal.
Ukrainian Economic Development Minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed that he has signed an agreement with the US. In a series of posts on X, Ms. Yulia Svyrydenko described this as a 50 50 50 50 partnership between the US and Ukraine, including the development of mineral and oil and gas projects.
The Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development said that the agreement will be funded through direct investment, US future aid and revenue from new mineral licensing agreements as well as not establishing any debt obligations to Ukraine.
According to a Ukrainian source, the US will contribute to the fund "through direct financial investment or through new military aid" and agreed to "focus on further military aid, not previous US aid." Ukraine will contribute 50% of the fees for oil, gas and mineral licenses in the future.
According to the agreement, Ukraine owns natural resources and the fund can only be invested in resource and infrastructure projects in Ukraine.
The newspaper also said that the fund's profits will be reinvested in the Ukrainian economy in the first decade and may be "distributed among partners" afterwards.
A official at the Development Finance Corporation - the US government agency that oversees the deal - said that the joint fund will " place strategic investment in critical minerals, hydrocarburines, natural resources and infrastructure related to natural resources in Ukraine, helping to diversify and ensure an essential supply chain for US economic prosperity and national security". The fund will also "seclose important minerals for the US to buy".
Ukraine is said to hold about 5% of the world's rare earth element reserves, which are used in electronics, defense technology and energy projects. Some of the country's mines are located in parts of eastern Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky initially traveled to Washington in February to sign a mineral deal with President Donald Trump. But that plan went bankrupt after a shocking meeting at the Oval Office between Trump, Zelensky and US officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance.
Mr. Trump has seen the mineral deal as an important part of his greater effort to mediate the end of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
