US- Ukraine Mineral Deal: An economic partnership agreement has been signed between the US and Ukraine. Under this, the US will be given preferential access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals or natural resources in the future.
The agreement also talks about setting up a joint investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine. This is a long-awaited agreement. Kiev hopes that this will pave the way for continued US support. This agreement is a major foreign policy victory for US President Donald Trump. He had presented this agreement as the cornerstone of his Ukraine strategy since taking office.
It was announced late Wednesday evening that the agreement had been signed. This happened after months of tense negotiations. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Yulia Sviridenko visited Washington to formalize the agreement with the US. After the signing, Yulia Sviridenko said on social media platform X about the key provisions of the agreement that ‘full ownership and control’ of Ukraine’s resources will remain completely in the hands of Kiev. She said, “All resources in our territory and waters belong to Ukraine. Ukraine will determine what and where to extract.” She stressed that the land beneath the land is in Ukrainian ownership and this is clearly stated in the agreement.
Why was there a delay in signing the agreement?
The US and Ukraine were trying to finalise the deal since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January this year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington was cut short after a controversial meeting in the Oval Office in February. Due to which the signing of a joint investment agreement for the reconstruction of Ukraine was also delayed. Kiev and Washington will jointly manage this fund, in which their participation will be 50-50 percent. It will be financed from the revenue received from new projects of critical minerals, oil and gas. Not from already running projects.
Those who will not get benefits from Russia
After this agreement, the US Finance Department said in a statement, “As President Trump has said, the US is committed to helping end this brutal and pointless war. This agreement clearly signals to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a long-term peace process focused on an independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. Clearly, any country or person who has financed Russia’s war or supplied war materials will not be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
What are rare earth elements?
Rare earth elements are a group of 17 elements that are essential for many types of technology. These include cellphones, hard drives, electric and hybrid vehicles. China is its largest producer in the world. America and Europe are trying to reduce dependence on Beijing. Ukraine has deposits of many important minerals, the main ones being titanium, lithium and cobalt. According to a study by the Kiev School of Economics, Ukraine has more than 100 major deposits of important minerals. There are also oil and natural gas reserves.
The Trump administration said in March that it wanted Ukraine to pay back aid given during the war with its mineral wealth. The final deal dropped the idea of treating that aid as a loan. And the deal appears to specifically leave the door open for Ukraine to join the European Union. However, the nine-page agreement published by the Ukrainian government on Thursday made no mention of US security guarantees.
