Folder photo: Nominated in the Republican presidential election and former American president Donald Trump and the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Trump Tower in New York, United States, September 27, 2024.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Ukraine and the United States have concluded an agreement on access to kyiv deposits on rare earth minerals, according to media reports, while kyiv seeks to strengthen its links with its key transatlantic ally in wartime under the Trump administration.
The project agreement provides that the two countries will jointly develop the mineral resources of Ukraine, including oil and gas, and sees the decrease in the United States for a right to $ 500 billion in potential revenues of the ‘agreement, According to the Financial Timeswho first reported the agreement on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump seemed to confirm the progress concerning the agreement, which has not yet been signed.
“I hear that [there is a deal]I hear that [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy]Friday, “Trump said journalists at the Oval Office Tuesday.
“It is certainly in agreement with me if he wishes, and he would like to sign it with me. And I understand that it is a big problem, a very big problem,” he added. “These are rare earths and other things,” said Trump without giving more details.
Trump said that the agreement offered kyiv dollars in aid and “many of military equipment and equipment and the right to fight, and originally, the right to fight”.
The text of the agreement does not give specific security guarantees in Ukraine, according to the Financial Times – a key question for kyiv, because it examines a post -war future in which it is protected from additional Russian aggression.
CNBC contacted the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US State Department for Comments. Neither CNBC nor NBC News saw a copy of “framework agreement”.
Bloomberg News and Sky News also indicated that the conditions of the agreement had been negotiated.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal said that a “final version” of the agreement had been concluded, which would create an investment fund and were linked to security guarantees. Without these, he said, the ministers of Zelenskyy and Ukrainians would not continue.
“To date, this Agreement is called” the agreement to establish the rules and conditions of the investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine “. This is a preliminary agreement which will have a legal force . According to the comments reported by the RBC-Ukraine news agency.
“The preamble to the agreement very clearly indicates that taking into account the desire of the American people to invest with Ukraine in a free, sovereign and secure state is the beginning of the agreement. I directly quote the text , and this is important for us to understand the purpose of the agreement.
Starting point
Yuriy Sak, advisor to the Ukrainian Ministry of Strategic Industries, told CNBC on Wednesday that “presidents will most likely meet on Friday” and “will finalize the agreement”, which he described as a starting point for cooperation and an investment additional economic.
“It will be a framework agreement and it will be part of the broader negotiation process,” he told CNBC.
“Of course, this will not be an agreement that will decide in depth of all the problems, but it will be, I repeat, a framework agreement, which will then be part of the process that will be extended in the future”, a- he noted.
We do not know how much mineral wealth is in Ukraine, although a Ukrainian official of the Ministry of the Economy would have declared this weekend that $ 350 billion in natural resources were located in territories occupied by Russia ,, The independent Kyiv reported on Sunday.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyny has directed negotiations between Washington and kyiv on the mineral agreement and told Financial Times on Tuesday that “we have heard the American administration several times that it was part of a greater image “.
“Ukraine, I would say that they are very courageous, and they are good soldiers, but without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been ended in a very short time,” added Trump on Tuesday.
Security guarantees
Ukrainian ministers should recommend that the agreement be signed on Wednesday, familiar sources with discussions have declared to Bloomberg, but Lisa Yasko, a Ukrainian legislator within the Zelenskyy population which was reported in the media.
She also expressed her concern that the backdrop at all agreement was “emotional” and tense.
“We don’t really know any final information on the agreement. We hear everything from the media,” she said Wednesday of CNBC traffic signs.
“I must say that it is very worrying because it looks like tensions, the mood goes in an emotional direction when we really need very rational solutions for our security, for our economy and generally for our international cooperation,” said -Ali said.
“I must say that this does not mean that we are against an agreement, we agree if there are security guarantees,” she added.
US President Donald Trump (CL) shakes the hand of the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (CR) inside the Notre-Dame cathedral before a ceremony to mark the reopening of the historic cathedral, in the center of Paris , December 7, 2024.
Ludovic Marin | AFP | Getty images
The management of Ukraine has undergone sustained pressure to conclude an agreement with the United States since the president The inauguration of Donald Trump in January. The president initially proposed that kyiv grants 50% of the United States to 50% of its minerals of rare land as a reward for the military aid it has given to Ukraine. Trump also said in an interview previously that an agreement would give the United States access to $ 500 billion in rare earth minerals And that it would be the refund for the aid already received by Kyiv.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy challenged the amount of warning aid that the United States has given in Ukraine, putting the figure at around $ 100 billion. Independent analysis The Kiel Institute for the Global Economy puts the amount of support in the United States engaged in Ukraine at 114.2 billion eurosor $ 119.5 billion.
“From Trump, I want to understand what Ukraine can obtain, as well as security guarantees and a contingent after the end of the war stadium,” said on the eve of the third anniversary of Ukraine on Sunday: year 2025 “, On the eve of the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
“An agreement should be a win-win for American companies and Ukraine people,” he added, in comments translated by NBC News. “I do not report something that 10 generations of Ukrainians will bear fruit.”
“About [the] $ 500 billion. Let us first face the figure. I know we had $ 100 billion. It’s a fact. I will not recognize $ 500 billion … The second thing, to be honest, I am not even ready to repair 100 billion. I’m going to explain why. Because we should not recognize subsidies as debts, “he said.
Zelenskyy had also noted that all Ukraine assistance still received was a legacy of the previous American administration under Joe Biden, adding that “as long as I understand, the agreement is that there is a condition for new assistance”.
In separate comments last week, Zelenskyy said he couldn’t “sell” his country And that an initial proposal from the United States had not offered in Ukraine, the guarantee guarantees that it was looking for.
The Ukrainian leader Last week would have ordered his ministers not to sign for any agreement, To say that the proposal which had been presented was too focused on American interests and offered very little in Ukraine in return.
