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16 May 2025 8:12
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  •   Home > News > International

    US, Ukraine sign resources deal two months after Oval Office clash over war aid

    The US and Ukraine sign an agreement to create a "reconstruction investment fund", two months after initial plans to sign a wartime deal were shelved when the countries' leaders spectacularly clashed in the Oval Office.


    The US and Ukraine have signed an agreement to fund the reconstruction of the war-torn country, two months after an earlier deal was shelved when the nations' leaders clashed at the White House.

    The two countries have for weeks been discussing a deal that would see the US get access to Ukraine's critical minerals deposits

    US President Donald Trump had previously described that deal as a way for Ukraine to pay back the US for the military aid it has provided since Russia's 2022 invasion.

    It is not clear how closely this deal resembles the agreement Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy were set to sign before the infamous Oval Office showdown in February.

    The new deal will establish a jointly managed reconstruction fund, financed by new mineral, oil and gas projects in Ukraine. 

    It includes "no provisions regarding any Ukrainian debt obligations to the United States", Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said. But it provides an economic incentive for the US to continue its defence of Ukraine. 

    Ms Svyrydenko, who signed the deal in Washington, said Ukraine would retain full ownership and control of its resources. "It is the Ukrainian state that determines what and where to extract," she wrote on X.

    The deal "allows both countries to expand their economic potential through equal cooperation and investment", Ms Svyrydenko said.

    The US has provided tens of billions of dollars in aid since Russia's invasion. But the relationship has been strained since the inauguration of Mr Trump, who promised during the election campaign to end the war in a day.

    Mr Trump has described Mr Zelenskyy as a "dictator" and a "salesman", and criticised him for not agreeing to cede territory to Russia. After February's Oval Office clash, the US temporarily suspended security assistance and intelligence sharing.

    In March, Mr Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone, but his proposal for a 30-day ceasefire — accepted by Mr Zelenskyy — was rejected by Mr Putin.

    In a statement after the deal was signed on Wednesday, local time, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was a sign of the Trump administration's commitment to a "peace process centred on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term".

    "And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine," he said.

    The US Treasury said the reconstruction fund would recognise "the significant financial and material support that the people of the US have provided to the defence of Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion".

    Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Bessent said the US was ready to sign the deal but Ukraine wanted to make some last-minute changes. "We're sure that they will reconsider that," he said.


    ABC




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