The US and Ukraine signed an agreement on minerals

United States i Ukraine have signed an "economic partnership agreement" that will give Washington access to Kiev's rare earth minerals in exchange for the establishment of an investment fund in Ukraine, reports CNN.

"As the President (Donald Trump) has said, the United States of America is committed to providing assistance to end this cruel and senseless war (in Ukraine)," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

He pointed out that the agreement clearly signals to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine in the long term.

"And let's be clear - no state or person that financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine," he stressed.

The Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yulia Sviridenko, signed the agreement in Washington on behalf of the Ukrainian government.

Among the provisions of the agreement is that "full ownership and control" remain in the hands of Ukraine, she wrote on the X network.

"All resources on our territory and in international waters belong to Ukraine. It is the Ukrainian state that determines what and where to extract. The underground layers remain the property of Ukraine - this is clearly established by the Agreement," she stated. The agreement was signed after a last-minute disagreement that almost prevented the documents from being signed yesterday.

Support for ceasefire negotiations

According to a person familiar with the agreement, with this move Kiev wants to strengthen the support of US President Donald Trump in the negotiations on a ceasefire with Russia, according to Bloomberg.

The agreement will give the United States privileged access to new investment projects for the development of Ukraine's natural resources, including aluminum, graphite, oil and natural gas, Bloomberg reported.

The deal is said to be seen as key to "cultivating Trump's goodwill towards Kiev" as his administration seeks to end the war that began when Russia fully invaded Ukraine more than three years ago.

After weeks of negotiations between Ukrainian and US officials over the text, momentum toward a breakthrough was building early this week, with Ukrainian negotiators visiting Washington to work out the final details.

The two sides agreed on the main agreement, but discussed technical details in separate texts.

Ukrainian officials had hoped to sign a comprehensive agreement and work out the details later, but the U.S. insisted that all components be agreed upon together, a person familiar with the situation said.

"We've reached an agreement where our money is safe, where we can start digging and do what we have to do," Trump said at a White House cabinet meeting earlier yesterday.

He emphasized that it is also good for Ukraine "because they will have an American presence on the site, and the American presence will prevent a lot of bad actors from entering the country or the areas where we are mining."

Source: H1