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Agence France-Presse

The United States and Ukraine on Wednesday signed a minerals deal after a two-month delay, in what US President Donald Trump’s administration called a new form of American commitment to Kyiv after the end of military aid.
Ukraine said 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 US president Joe Biden after Russia invaded just over three years ago.
After initial hesitation, Ukraine has 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.

On April 30, the United States and Ukraine signed an agreement to establish the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.
This historic economic partnership clearly signals the Trump Administration’s commitment to a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/cKUACUhet9
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) April 30, 2025

Announcing the signing of what he called a “historic” deal in Washington, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it showed “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 centred on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Bessent said.
“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.”
In Kyiv, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on national television that the agreement was “good, equal and beneficial”.
In a post on Telegram, Shmygal said that the two countries would establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund with each side having 50 per cent voting rights.
“Ukraine retains full control over its subsoil, infrastructure and natural resources,” he said.

Meeting a key concern for Kyiv, he said Ukraine would 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 said.
Trump had originally sought US$500 billion in mineral wealth – around four times what the United States has contributed to Ukraine since the war.
Trump has balked at offering security guarantees to Ukraine and has rejected its aspiration to join Nato.
But Trump said on Wednesday that a US presence on the ground would benefit Ukraine.
“The American presence will, I think, keep a lot of bad actors out of the country or certainly out of the area where we’re doing the digging,” Trump said at the cabinet meeting.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday threatened that the Trump administration would give up on mediation on the conflict – which Trump had vowed during the campaign to end on his first day in office – unless the two sides come forward with “concrete proposals”.
Trump has pressed for a settlement in which Ukraine would give up some territory seized by Russia, which has rejected US-backed overtures for a ceasefire of at least 30 days.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out any formal concession to Russia of Crimea, the peninsula seized in 2014 and whose annexation by Moscow is roundly rejected internationally.
But Zelensky has taken care to voice support for Trump’s diplomacy after a disastrous February 28 White House meeting where Trump and US Vice-President J.D. Vance berated him for allegedly being ungrateful for US help.
Zelensky had been due to sign the minerals agreement at the White House but was abruptly shown the door after the stunning on-camera feud.
Ukraine holds some 5 per cent of the world’s mineral resources and rare earths, according to various estimates. But work has not yet started on tapping many of the resources and many sites are in territory now controlled by Russian forces.




Notably, Ukraine has around 20 per cent of the world’s graphite, an essential material for electric batteries, according to France’s Bureau of Geological and Mining Research.
Ukraine is also a major producer of manganese and titanium, and says it possesses the largest lithium deposits in Europe.
Russia controls about 20 per cent of Ukraine’s territory after more than three years of brutal fighting that has killed tens of thousands including civilians.
Ukraine launched a surprise incursion last August into Russia’s Kursk region. Moscow claimed to have fully cleared out Ukrainian forces over the weekend.
Russia said Wednesday that 288 civilians died during the Kursk incursion.


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Ukraine war

US and Ukraine sign minerals deal, tying Trump to Kyiv

US President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in February. File photo: AP

US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican in April. Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via AFP 

Ukraine holds some 5 per cent of the world’s mineral resources and rare earths. Photo: AFP

US threatens to quit Ukraine war mediation effort unless ‘concrete proposals’

Ukrainian soldiers train in trench assault tactics with French servicemen in Poland. Photo: AFP

Russian forces have been rehearsing for a Moscow military parade in May. Photo: Reuters

A Ukrainian serviceman carries a dog out of a house in Kyiv damaged by a Russian air strike. Photo: AP

US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican last month. Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcoming US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow. Photo: Sputnik via Reuters

Ukraine’s Zelensky calls for fair peace with no ‘rewards’ for Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives for a meeting on the sidelines of the 61st Munich Security Conference in Germany in February. Photo: TNS

Russia’s Putin orders 72-hour Ukraine ceasefire in May to mark Victory Day

Ukrainian servicemen fire a howitzer towards Russian positions in the eastern Donetsk region on April 23. Photo: AFP

A man walks past decorations installed ahead of the Victory Day in Moscow on April 25. Photo: Reuters

US and Ukraine will sign critical minerals deal next week: Donald Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on at a press conference in Paris, France, on March 27. Photo: AFP

Zelensky and US President Donald Trump failed to reach a minerals deal following a tense meeting at the White House on February 28. Photo: Pool Via CNP via ZUMA Press Wire/TNS

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Deal is expected to give US access to Ukraine’s vast critical minerals, following months of negotiations and frayed ties


Deal is expected to give US access to Ukraine’s vast critical minerals, following months of negotiations and frayed ties.


US and Ukraine sign minerals deal, tying Trump to Kyiv

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Deal is expected to give US access to Ukraine’s vast critical minerals, following months of negotiations and frayed ties

Deal is expected to give US access to Ukraine’s vast critical minerals, following months of negotiations and frayed ties