The United States and Ukraine have signed the agreement to create the US-UKRAINE Reconstruction Investment Fund-the long-awaited mineral agreement which gives American rights to the Ukrainian rare land, both parties announced on Wednesday.
“This agreement clearly reports to Russia that the Trump administration has engaged in a peace process centered on a free, sovereign and long -term prosperous Ukraine,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a press release. “President Trump envisaged this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show the commitment of both parties to sustainable peace and prosperity in Ukraine. And to be clear, no state or person who has funded or provided the Russian war machine will be authorized to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian Minister of Economy, Yulia Svyrydenko, said in an article on X, “with the United States, we create the fund that will attract global investments in our country”.
In a video discussing the agreement published on X, Bessent gave more details on the agreement.
“This partnership allows the United States to invest alongside Ukraine to unlock Ukraine growth assets, mobilize American standards for talent, capital and governance that will improve Ukraine’s investment climate and accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery,” said Bessent in the video.
The two parties were ready to sign the agreement on critical minerals and other resources earlier, but the United States said it wanted the main mineral resource agreement signed and the creation of a document of investment funds signed at the same time, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and a source in the office of the Ukrainian president.
President Donald Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in Washington on February 28, 2025.
I Curtis / AP
Ukraine had planned to separate the signing dates, because the creation of the fund agreement was still being finalized, added the source.
“Now they will rush to finish it,” said the source.
Ukraine said it was ready to sign but encountered a last-minute problem when the United States asked her to sign both the mineral resources agreement and the investment fund agreement at the same time, Ukrainian official in ABC News said. The United States refuted this series of events in the comments at the meeting of President Donald Trump’s cabinet on Wednesday, saying that it was “ready to sign” the agreement, but the Ukrainians decided on Tuesday evening to “make last minute changes,” said Bessent.
“Our side is ready to sign,” said Bessent.
When asked what had been changed, Bessent said that there was “no change on our side”.
Trump then made the agreement on mineral resources in “context”, speaking of the amount of money that the United States has given to the war effort of Ukraine. But he seemed optimistic about the prospect that the agreement meets.
“But we haven’t really seen the fruits of this agreement yet. I guess we will,” said Trump.
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy initially had to sign the mineral agreement at the end of February, but the plan was derailed following a tense exchange between the two men of the oval office.
It is a story in development. Please check the updates.
