Ukraine and US agree on terms of minerals deal – FT reveals details

Kyiv has agreed with Washington on the terms of a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Donald Trump administration and pave the way for long-term US security commitments, as reported by the Financial Times, citing anonymous Ukrainian officials.

The outlet's sources said that Kyiv is now ready to sign an agreement on the joint development of its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the United States dropped its demand to be entitled to $500 billion in potential revenue from resource exploitation.

Ukrainian officials claim to have negotiated much more favorable terms and described the deal as a way to expand relations with the United States to strengthen Kyiv's prospects after three years of full-scale war.

The newspaper claims that the final version of the agreement, dated February 24, provides for the creation of a fund to which Ukraine will contribute 50% of the proceeds from the "future monetization" of state resources, including oil and gas, as well as related logistics. This fund will invest in projects in Ukraine.

According to the publication, the fund will not include those resources from which Ukraine already receives budget revenues, i.e., it will not cover the current activities of Naftogaz or Ukrnafta.

However, the agreement does not mention security guarantees from the United States, which Kyiv had insisted on from the very beginning, the FT notes. Also, the outlet adds, the text does not address such important issues as the size of the US share in the fund and the terms of "joint ownership" agreements, which should be regulated by subsequent agreements.

Ukrainian officials told the newspaper that the agreement was approved by the ministers of justice, economy, and foreign affairs, and raised the prospect of Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting the White House in the coming weeks to sign the document with Trump.

"This will be a chance for President [Zelenskyy] to discuss the big picture. And then, after that, we will be able to think about the next steps," one of the officials said.

According to the FT, the first proposal from the Trump administration was to create a reconstruction investment fund in which the United States would retain a 100% stake. Ukraine would have to contribute 50% of the fund's revenues from mineral extraction, including oil, gas, and related infrastructure, up to a maximum of $500 billion.

These conditions, which Ukrainian officials called unacceptable, were removed from the final draft of the agreement.

The fund's mandate to invest in Ukraine is another change that Kyiv sought. According to media reports, the new document states that the United States will support Ukraine's economic development in the future.

Ukrainian officials added that the treaty is only a "framework agreement" and that no resources will change hands until the fund is established, giving them time to work out any potential differences. Among the unresolved issues is the agreement on the jurisdiction of the document.

The Ukrainian government will also have to get the agreement approved by parliament, whose opposition MPs have indicated that they will at least hold a "heated debate" before ratifying the agreement, the FT notes.

Justice Minister Olga Stefanishyna told the newspaper that the agreement is "only part of the overall picture."

"We have repeatedly heard from the US administration that this [agreement] is part of a larger picture," the official said.

Ukrainian outlets Suspilne and Economic Pravda, citing sources, also report on the terms of the agreement, which are similar to those published by the FT.

The day before, US President Trump said that the United States would return "tens of billions of dollars" through the minerals agreement with Ukraine. Earlier, the politician spoke of allegedly hundreds of billions of dollars in Ukrainian debt.

President Zelenskyy claimed that Ukraine had received $100 billion in aid from the United States. He added that he was not actually ready to acknowledge even $100 billion of "debt" because these funds were allocated as grants.

The Ukrainian leader explained that the first version of the agreement was not signed because of problems with security guarantees in the text.