Washington – The United States and Ukraine signed an agreement on Wednesday that granted American access to the vast mineral resources of Ukraine, ending an agreement months in the realization that could allow continuous military aid to kyiv amid the concerns that President Donald Trump could reduce support in ongoing peace negotiations with Russia.
The two parties only offered basic details about the structure of the agreement, which they called the United States-Ukraine reinvestment fund. But it is expected to give Ukraine access to the United States Valuable rare earth minerals while providing Kyiv a security measure on continuous US support in his grinding war with Russia.
“This agreement clearly indicates to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process focused on a free, sovereign and prosperous long -term Ukraine,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Besent, in a statement. “President Trump imagined this association between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show the commitment of both parties to peace and lasting prosperity in Ukraine.”
The announcement comes at a critical moment in the three -year war as Trump has been frustrated more and more with both sides. The firm occurs two months after a different but similar agreement almost signed before being derailed in a Oval Oval Office Meeting Involving President Donald Trump, vice president JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump has long criticized Zelenskyy, saying that he did not “have the letters” to win the war and blame him for prolonging the murder for not giving up Crimea, but in recent days he has The Russian President Repredido, Vladimir Putin In addition, to say that I was complicating the negotiations with the “very bad moment” in the launch of mortal strikes on kyiv.
Trump said Wednesday night in Newsnation that the agreement, “in theory”, means that the United States will get more than Ukraine than contributed. “I wanted to be protected,” he said, adding that he didn’t want to seem “silly” not recovering money for investment.
For Ukraine, the agreement is considered key to guaranteeing access to future US military aid.
“In truth, this is a strategic agreement for the creation of a fund of investment partners,” said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. “This is really an international agreement and good about joint investment in the development and restoration of Ukraine between the governments of the United States and Ukraine.”
The Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, flew to Washington on Wednesday to help end the agreement.
“Together with the United States, we are creating the fund that will attract global investment to our country,” he said in an X publication after the firm.
Earlier on Wednesday, Besent said that during a cabinet meeting at the White House, hours after Ukrainian officials indicated that an agreement was almost finished, that there was still work to be done.
“The Ukrainians decided last night to make some changes of last minute,” Besunt said when asked about the reports that Ukraine was ready to accept the pact. “We are sure they will reconsider. And we are ready to sign this afternoon if they are.”
He did not explain the latest changes he said that Ukraine did.
The United States has been looking for access to more than 20 raw materials considered strategically critical for their interests, including some non -minerals such as oil and natural gas. Among them are Ukraine titanium depositswhich is used to make airplane wings and other aerospace, and uranium manufacturing, which is used for nuclear energy, medical equipment and weapons. Ukraine also has lithium, graphite and manganese, which are used in electric vehicle batteries.
After kyiv felt that the initial draft of the United States of the agreement disproportionately favored US interests, introduced new provisions aimed at addressing those concerns.
According to Shmyhal, the latest version would establish an equal association between the two countries and last 10 years. Financial contributions to a joint fund would be carried out in cash, and only the new US military aid would count for US participation. The assistance provided before signing the agreement would not be counted. Unlike an earlier draft, the agreement would not conflict with that of Ukraine Way to European Union membership – A key disposition for Kyiv.
The Ukrainian cabinet approved the agreement on Wednesday, allowing Svydenko to sign it in Washington. The agreement must still be ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament before it can enter into force.
Negotiations occur in the midst of rock progress in Washington’s impulse to stop the war.
Putin Backs requires a high fire before peace negotiations, “but before it is done, it is necessary to answer some questions and solve some nuances,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Putin is also ready for direct conversations with Ukraine without previous conditions to seek a peace agreement, he added.
“We realize that Washington wants to achieve rapid progress, but we hope to understand that the Ukrainian crisis settlement is too complex to get quickly,” Peskov said during his daily conference with journalists.
Trump has He expressed frustration On the slow rhythm of progress in negotiations aimed at stopping war. Western European leaders have accused Putin of stagnating while their forces seek to take more Ukrainian lands. Russia has captured almost fifth from the territory of Ukraine since Moscow’s forces launched a large -scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
Trump has been dismissed for a long time as a loss of lives and money from US taxpayers, a complaint that repeated Wednesday during his cabinet meeting. That could mean the end of crucial military aid for Ukraine and the heaviest economic sanctions to Russia.
On Tuesday of the United States Department of the United States, he tried again to push both parties to move more quickly and warned that the United States could withdraw from negotiations if there is no progress.
“Now we are at a time when the concrete proposals must be delivered by the two parties on how to put an end to this conflict,” the Tammy Bruce department spokesman cited the Secretary of State Marco Rubio as to say.
Russia has effectively rejected an US proposal for a high immediate and complete fire of 30 days, so it is conditioned to the mobilization effort of Ukraine and the supplies of Western weapons to kyiv.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that Ukraine had accepted an unconditional truce just because he was being pushed back on the battlefield, where the largest Russian forces have the advantage.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian civilians have been killed or wounded in attacks every day this year, according to a UN report presented on Tuesday in New York.
The UN Human Rights Office said in the report that in the first three months of this year, it had verified 2,641 civil casualties in Ukraine. That was almost 900 more than during the same period last year.
In addition, between April 1 to 25, civil victims in Ukraine increased 46% of the same weeks in 2024, he said.
The daily routine of the war shows no signs of neglecting. A night attack of Russian drones against Ukraine The second largest city, Kharkiv, Wounded at least 45 civilians, Ukrainian officials said.
Also on Wednesday, the Ukrainian security service said that its drones hit the Murom instrument engineering plant in the Vladimir region of Russia during the night, causing five explosions and a fire in the military installation. The claim could not be independent.
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Kulab and Arhirova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer, Fatima Hussein in Washington, contributed to this report.
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