Ukraine and the United States signed a memorandum as a first step towards the mineral agreement
Ukraine and the United States have signed a memorandum as a first step towards reaching an agreement on the exposure of Ukrainian mineral resources, Julia Pljidenko, first deputy prime minister and Ukraine’s economy minister, reported.
« We are happy to be able to announce the signing, with our American partners, on a memorandum of intent, which paves the way for an economic partnership agreement and the establishment of a Ukrainian Investment Fund. »
Without announcing further details, she points out that the future agreement expected to contribute to the economic growth of the two countries will have to be ratified in the Ukrainian Parliament.
The signing of the Memorandum comes after US President Donald Trump’s insistence on a bilateral mineral agreement as part of his efforts to end Ukraine’s war.
Trump sees the deal as a way to restore billions of dollars The valuable help that Washington has given to Ukraine in the war with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski, meanwhile, has said Ukraine has no intention of recognizing the military assistance from the previous US administration.
The United States has reduced the cost estimation intended to help Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022 to about $ 100 billion from $ 300 billion, Bloomberg said, citing sources familiar with the issue.
The mineral raw material agreement was initially to be signed in late February at the White House, but US President Donald Trump, Vice President Jay Di Vance and Ukrainian head of Ukrainian state Volodimir Zelenski then engaged in a fierce quarrel and signing.
Last month, the Trump administration proposed a new, wider mineral raw material agreement, which does not give Ukraine any security guarantees, but requires all revenue from exploiting natural resources from state and private companies located on Ukrainian territory to overflow to a joint investment fund.
