THE United States and Ukraine have signed a preliminary outline of a rare-earth mineral deal, said a senior Ukrainian official on Friday. The potential agreement between both sides will be signed next week.
The announcement was made on Friday by Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, who also serves as Minister of Economy.
“We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine,” she wrote.
The minister, however, did not specify any details of the document and also refrained from mentioning how the funds for the deal would be sourced.
Sviridenko called the document “the result of the professional work of the negotiating teams” during talks last week. “We continue to work on the Agreement itself. There is a lot to do, but the current pace and significant progress give reason to expect that the document will be very beneficial for both countries,” she added.
While the Ukrainian minister did not mention the specifics in the agreement, Trump said a final resource deal could be signed as early as next week. “We have a minerals deal, which I guess is going to be signed … next Thursday. And I assume they’re going to live up to the deal. So we’ll see. But we have a deal on that.”
The US and Ukraine were discussing this important deal for weeks that would see Washington having access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals in exchange for help.
Earlier this week, reports indicated that the US brought down the assessment of its assistance to Kiev from more than $300 billion to around $100 billion but still sees it as a tool to recoup financial losses.
The sides were poised to sign a deal in late February, with a ceremony expected to take place during a visit to the White House by Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.
The event, however, devolved into a public spat, with Trump accusing Zelensky of disrespecting America and not being grateful for the US aid provided to Ukraine. while also being reluctant to seek peace with Russia and “gambling with World War III.”
