The United States and Ukraine have signed an agreement over access to Ukraine’s natural resources, the White House confirmed to DailyMail.com Tuesday evening.
The deal will provide the U.S. privileged access to new investment projects to develop Ukraine’s natural resources, including aluminum, graphite, oil and natural gas.
It was signed after a weekslong press by President Donald Trump calling on Ukraine to compensate Washington for billions in military and economic assistance to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said Tuesday morning that the deal was due to be signed in the next 24 hours.
He said on Ukrainian television: ‘As soon as all the remaining details are finalized, in the near future, I hope within the next 24 hours, the agreement will be signed.’
The draft sets out the creation of a joint US-Ukrainian fund for reconstruction which will receive 50 percent of profits and royalties accruing to the Ukrainian state from new natural resources permits in Ukraine.
It says that any future US military assistance to Ukraine will count towards the US contribution to the joint fund.
According to the draft, the United States, or other entities it designates, will get preferential, but not exclusive, access to new permits, licenses and investment opportunities in the field of Ukrainian natural resources. Existing deals are not covered.
The United States and Ukraine have signed an agreement long pushed for by Donald Trump (pictured) over access to Ukraine’s natural resources, the White House confirmed to DailyMail.com Tuesday evening
It was signed after after a weekslong press by President Donald Trump calling on Ukraine President Zelenskyy (pictured) to compensate Washington for billions in military and economic assistance to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a video posted to X that ‘this partnership allows the United States to invest alongside Ukraine, to unlock Ukraine´s growth assets, mobilize American talent, capital and governance standards that will improve Ukraine´s investment climate and accelerate Ukraine´s economic recovery.’
Ukraine´s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed to The Associated Press that the deal has been signed in Washington.
In a post on X, she said ‘Together with the United States, we are creating the Fund that will attract global investment to our country.’
The Financial Times reported that negotiators ran into a hurdle at the last minute over specific details that both parties previously agreed on.
Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, who flew to Washington to sign the deal with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, was reportedly told by his team to ‘be ready to sign all agreements, or go back home.’
The Americans reportedly wanted Svyrydenko to sign both a framework deal and a detailed agreement on the joint fund.
But Ukrainian officials said they wouldn’t be able to do this, as the fund agreement would need to be approved by the country’s parliament before it can be signed.
Previous iterations of the deal during negotiations had said that it would include Ukrainian natural gas infrastructure, which is one of Ukraine’s most valuable assets, sources with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month.
The United States and Ukraine have signed an agreement over access to Ukraine’s natural resources
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a video posted to X that ‘this partnership allows the United States to invest alongside Ukraine, to unlock Ukraine´s growth assets, mobilize American talent, capital and governance standards that will improve Ukraine´s investment climate and accelerate Ukraine´s economic recovery
Gas infrastructure is not covered by the draft seen on Wednesday.
The previous iterations had also stated that the United States would control how the joint fund’s revenue was spent, and could therefore receive royalties and profits from Ukraine’s natural resources, the sources had previously said.
However, this was absent from the draft deal that was slated for signing on Wednesday.
It comes after it was revealed that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky pushed US president Donald Trump to take a harder line with Russian despot Vladimir Putin during their historic conversation at St. Peter’s Basilica.
Following a disastrous meeting in the White House in February, in which Zelensky was unceremoniously booted out of the seat of American power, the two world leaders met face-to-face for the first time in two months at Pope Francis’ funeral last week.
While both men were applauded for finally sitting down together, little was known about the content of their conversation until now.
According to Axios, Zelensky told Trump that Putin would not be moved on his position on the invasion of Ukraine until he was forced to.
A source told the outlet that Trump admitted he might have to change his approach to dealing with Putin.
It comes after it was revealed that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky pushed US president Donald Trump to take a harder line with Russian despot Vladimir Putin during their historic conversation at St. Peter’s Basilica. Trump believes Putin wants to end the invasion
Hours later, Trump criticised Putin in a Truth Social post for attacking Kyiv with a missile strike, writing: ‘It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?” Too many people are dying!!!’
Zelensky also asked Trump to return to his original position on an unconditional ceasefire as a foundation for peace talks, which a source said Trump appeared to agree to.
The Ukrainian leader wasn’t the only one to make demands of the other, with Axios reporting that the firebrand Republican pushed Zelensky to sign the US-Ukraine minerals deal as soon as possible.
One person suggested that the reason the Vatican meeting was more positive than their White House meeting was that vice president JD Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff were not present.
It is not currently clear how long Trump will hold up his more critical stance towards Russia.
Last night, Trump told ABC News that though Putin ‘could be tapping me on a little bit’, he still believed the despot was keen to end the invasion.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .