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The United States and Ukraine announced on Wednesday an economic agreement after a one -week press of US President Donald Trump in Ukraine to compensate Washington for billions in military and economic assistance to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion.
The secretary of the Treasury, Scott Besent, said in a video published in X that “this association allows the United States to invest together with Ukraine, unlock the growth assets of Ukraine, mobilize the standards of American talent, capital and governance that will improve the investment climate of Ukraine and accelerate the economic recovery of Ukraine.”
The announcement arrives at a critical moment in the war as Trump has become more and more frustrated with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine with the brutal struggle crawling.
The US president has criticized its Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for the steps that, according to him, prolonged the murder, and has rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin for complicating negotiations with “very bad weather” in the launch of mortal strikes on kyiv.
Trump met on Saturday with Zelenskyy outside the funeral of Pope Francis.
The Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, in a position on X celebrated the progress.
“Together with the United States, we are creating the fund that will attract global investment to our country,” he said.
The two parties only offered clear details about the structure of the agreement, but it is expected to give access to the United States to their valuable rare minerals in the hope of guaranteeing continuous US support for kyiv in their war with Russia.
The Minister of Economy of Ukraine and Viceprimer Minister, Yulia Svydenko, flew to Washington on Wednesday to help end the agreement, said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during an appearance on Ukrainian television. Although the main part of the agreement had been resolved, there were still obstacles to overcome, said a senior Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
For Ukraine, the agreement is considered key to guaranteeing access to future US military aid.
“In truth, this is a strategic agreement for the creation of an investment partners fund,” said Shmyhal. “This is really an international agreement and good about joint investment in the development and restoration of Ukraine between the governments of the United States and Ukraine.”
Trump began his impulse for an agreement in February that he wanted access to the rare earth materials of Ukraine as a condition to continue the support of the United States in the war, describing it as reimbursement for the billions of dollars to help that the United States has given kyiv.
But the conversations stagnated after a tense meeting of the Oval office of US and Ukrainian leaders, and reaching an agreement since then has demonstrated difficult and tense relations between Washington and kyiv.
The negotiations seemed to extend until shortly before the two parties confirmed that an agreement had been signed.
Earlier on Wednesday, Besent said that during a cabinet meeting at the White House, hours after Ukrainian officials indicated that an agreement was almost finished, that there was still work to be done.
“The Ukrainians decided last night to make some changes of last minute,” Besunt said when asked about the reports that Ukraine was ready to accept the pact. “We are sure they will reconsider. And we are ready to sign this afternoon if they are.”
He did not explain the latest changes he said that Ukraine did.
The United States has been looking for access to more than 20 raw materials considered strategically critical for their interests, including some non -minerals such as oil and natural gas. Among them are the titanium deposits of Ukraine, which are used to manufacture air wings and other aerospace, and uranium manufacture, which is used for nuclear energy, medical equipment and weapons. Ukraine also has lithium, graphite and manganese, which are used in electric vehicle batteries.
After kyiv felt that the initial draft of the United States of the agreement disproportionately favored US interests, introduced new provisions aimed at addressing those concerns.
According to Shmyhal, the latest version would establish an equal association between the two countries and last 10 years. Financial contributions to a joint fund would be carried out in cash, and only the new US military aid would count for US participation. The assistance provided before signing the agreement would not be counted. Unlike an earlier draft, the agreement would not conflict with the Ukraine path towards the European Union membership, a key disposition for kyiv.
The Ukrainian cabinet approved the agreement on Wednesday, allowing Svydenko to sign it in Washington. Once signed by both parties, the agreement would need to be ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament before it could go into force.
Putin wants answers before committing to a high fire
Negotiations occur in the midst of rock progress in Washington’s impulse to stop the war.
Putin Backs requires a high fire before peace negotiations, “but before it is done, it is necessary to answer some questions and solve some nuances,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Putin is also ready for direct conversations with Ukraine without previous conditions to seek a peace agreement, he added.
“We realize that Washington wants to achieve rapid progress, but we hope to understand that the Ukrainian crisis settlement is too complex to get quickly,” Peskov said during his daily conference with journalists.
Trump has expressed his frustration for the slow pace of progress in negotiations aimed at stopping war. Western European leaders have accused Putin of stagnating while their forces seek to take more Ukrainian lands. Russia has captured almost fifth from the territory of Ukraine since Moscow’s forces launched a large -scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
Trump has been dismissed for a long time as a loss of lives and money from US taxpayers, a complaint that repeated Wednesday during his cabinet meeting. That could mean the end of crucial military aid for Ukraine and the heaviest economic sanctions to Russia.
We want both parties to accelerate things
On Tuesday of the United States Department of the United States, he tried again to push both parties to move more quickly and warned that the United States could withdraw from negotiations if there is no progress.
“Now we are at a time when the concrete proposals must be delivered by the two parties on how to put an end to this conflict”, the spokeswoman for the Tammy Bruce department cited the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, which he said.
Russia has effectively rejected an US proposal for a high immediate and complete fire of 30 days, so it is conditioned to the mobilization effort of Ukraine and the supplies of Western weapons to kyiv.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that Ukraine had accepted an unconditional truce just because he was being pushed back on the battlefield, where the largest Russian forces have the advantage.
The UN says that Ukrainian civilian casualties are increasing
Meanwhile, Ukrainian civilians have been killed or wounded in attacks every day this year, according to a UN report presented on Tuesday in New York.
The UN Human Rights Office said in the report that in the first three months of this year, it had verified 2,641 civil casualties in Ukraine. That was almost 900 more than during the same period last year.
In addition, between April 1 to 25, civil victims in Ukraine increased 46% of the same weeks in 2024, he said.
The daily routine of the war shows no signs of neglecting. A nighttime night attack of unmanned planes against the second largest city in Ukraine, Jharkiv, wounded at least 45 civilians, Ukrainian officials said.
Also on Wednesday, the Ukrainian security service said that its drones hit the Murom instrument engineering plant in the Vladimir region of Russia during the night, causing five explosions and a fire in the military installation. The claim could not be independent.
The associated press writer Fatima Hussein contributed reports.
