Ukraine and US sign minerals deal that commits Trump administration to Kyiv

The United States and Ukraine signs a minerals deal after a two-month delay, in what President Donald Trump’s administration calls a new form of US commitment to Kyiv after the end of military aid.

Ukraine says it secured key interests after protracted negotiations, including full sovereignty over its own rare earths, which are vital for new technologies and largely untapped.

Trump had initially demanded rights to Ukraine’s mineral wealth as compensation for the billions of dollars in US weapons sent under former president Joe Biden after Russia invaded just over three years ago.

After initial hesitation, Ukraine accepted a minerals accord as a way to secure long-term investment by the United States, as Trump tries to drastically scale back US security commitments around the world.

Announcing the signing of the deal in Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says it shows “both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine.”

“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Bessent says.

“And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”

The Treasury statement notably mentions Russia’s “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine — diverging from the Trump administration’s usual formulation of a “conflict” for which Kyiv bears a large degree of responsibility.

In Kyiv, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal says on national television that the agreement was “good, equal and beneficial.”

In a post on Telegram, Shmygal says that the two countries would establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund with each side having 50 percent voting rights.

“Ukraine retains full control over its subsoil, infrastructure and natural resources,” he says.

Meeting a key concern for Kyiv, he says Ukraine will not be asked to pay back any “debt” for the billions of dollars in US weapons and other support since Russia invaded in February 2022.

“The fund’s profits will be reinvested exclusively in Ukraine,” he says.