Politics Raw materials deal: Ukraine and USA sign memorandum of understanding
After a long struggle, Ukraine and the USA have signed a declaration of intent to conclude a raw materials agreement.
17.04.2025, 23:50
17.04.2025, 23:51
SDA
This was announced by the Ukrainian Minister of Economy and Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on Facebook on Thursday evening. "Today a step was taken towards a joint economic partnership agreement with the United States," she said. The text of the raw materials agreement itself, which would give the US access to rare earths and other valuable resources in Ukraine, has yet to be finalized.
US President Donald Trump has announced that the agreement will be signed next week. According to Svyrydenko, the document must also be ratified by the parliaments once it has been signed. "We are preparing to establish the fund for investments in the reconstruction of Ukraine," she said. The agreement enables significant investments, the modernization of infrastructure and a mutually beneficial partnership. It is an investment in the future for a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine.
Selenskyj had announced an interim step
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously announced the memorandum as an intermediate step towards the raw materials agreement. Legal experts would continue to work on the actual binding raw materials agreement.
At the end of February, the signing of a vague framework agreement on the joint extraction of raw materials failed following a dispute between Trump and Selensky in Washington. Trump has been urging Kiev to conclude a raw materials agreement for some time. The profits from the mining of rare earth metals, among other things, were to serve as compensation to the USA for military aid already granted to the country attacked by Russia.
Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian invasion for more than three years with Western help.
