Washington and Kyiv sign economic accord

KYIV/WASHINGTON — Ukraine and the US on Wednesday signed a deal heavily promoted by US President Donald Trump that will give the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and fund investment in Ukraine's reconstruction.

The two countries signed the accord in Washington after months of negotiations, with uncertainty persisting until the last moment with word of an eleventh-hour snag.

The accord establishes a joint investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction as Trump tries to secure a peace settlement in the three-year-old conflict in Ukraine.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko were shown signing the agreement in a photo posted on X by the Treasury, which said the deal "clearly signals the Trump Administration's commitment to a free, sovereign, prosperous Ukraine".

Svyrydenko wrote on X that the accord provides for Washington to contribute to the fund.

"In addition to direct financial contributions, it may also provide new assistance — for example, air defense systems for Ukraine," she said. Washington did not directly address that suggestion.

The US has been Ukraine's single largest military donor since Russia's 2022 special military operation with aid of more than 64 billion euros ($72 billion), according to the Kiel Institute in Germany.

Before the signing, Trump repeated on Wednesday that the US should get something for its aid to Kyiv, thus the effort to secure a deal for Ukraine's plentiful deposits of rare earth minerals.

In announcing the deal, the US Treasury said the partnership recognized "the significant financial and material support that the people of the United States have provided to the defense of Ukraine".

Ukraine praised the signing as an "equal and good international deal".

Key to military aid

For Ukraine, the agreement is seen as key to ensuring its access to future US military aid.

"Truly, this is a strategic deal for the creation of an investment partner fund," said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

"This is truly an equal and good international deal on joint investment in the development and restoration of Ukraine between the governments of the United States and Ukraine."

Ukraine is rich in natural resources, including rare earth metals, which are used in consumer electronics, electric vehicles and military applications, among others.

Svyrydenko said Ukraine has no debt obligations to the United States under the agreement, a key point in the lengthy negotiations between the two countries.

The deal, she said, also complied with Ukraine's constitution and Ukraine's campaign to join the European Union, key elements in Ukraine's negotiating position.

Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that the signing of a minerals deal meant Trump had finally forced Kyiv to pay for the US aid.

"Now they will have to pay for military supplies with the national wealth of a disappearing country," Medvedev wrote on Telegram.

The Kremlin has yet to comment on the deal.

A draft of the US-Ukraine agreement seen by Reuters earlier on Wednesday showed Ukraine secured the removal of any requirement for it to pay back the US for past military assistance, something Kyiv had staunchly opposed.

The draft did not provide any concrete US security guarantees for Ukraine, one of its initial goals.

Trump has balked at offering security guarantees to Ukraine and has rejected its aspiration to join NATO. But he said on Wednesday that a US presence on the ground would benefit Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the negotiations come amid rocky progress in Washington's push to stop the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin backs calls for a ceasefire before peace negotiations, "but before it's done, it's necessary to answer a few questions and sort out a few nuances," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Agencies Via Xinhua