Kiev denied the colonial nature of the agreement with the United States
The agreement on the creation of a joint investment fund with the United States, to which it is planned to transfer future revenues from the extraction of critically important Ukrainian raw materials, is not of a colonial nature, assured the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal. According to him, the contributions of the parties to the mentioned fund will amount to about 50-50. However, this contradicted the estimates of US President Donald Trump. According to him, during the visit of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky on Friday, it is expected to sign an agreement that will raise $ 1 trillion. At the same time, it will provide Kiev with $350 billion in American aid and the right to continue fighting, Trump said.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Verkhovna Rada) rejected on Wednesday a proposal to summon to parliament officials involved in negotiations on an agreement with the United States on Ukrainian minerals. He was supported by only 114 deputies, although the Verkhovna Rada has the right to know what is happening with Ukrainian property, said Irina Gerashchenko, a deputy from the opposition European Solidarity party. Representatives of the pro-presidential Servant of the People faction, in particular, opposed this decision.
While the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal told reporters the day before that, as part of the resource agreement, Kiev and Washington are agreeing to create a joint investment fund, to which Ukraine will have to transfer future revenues from the extraction of critically important raw materials as its contribution. The United States is planning to invest money in various areas: security, economic development, capital investments and infrastructure of Ukraine. The ratio of contributions from the parties to the fund will be approximately 50-50, and it will be managed by both the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the United States. “Nothing like a colonial agreement is being discussed,” Shmygal assured. He added that Kiev offers equal conditions for partners from Europe and other G7 countries.
It is noteworthy that on Wednesday, the media disseminated explanations from the representative of the European Commission, Thomas Rainier, that Brussels does not compete with Washington in matters of access to Ukrainian resources. According to his definition, the statement made by the European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stefan Sejournay on the eve of the bilateral resource agreement was misunderstood. The European Commissioner only intended to confirm the commitment to implement the memorandum of understanding between Ukraine and the EU in the field of critical resources, which was concluded back in 2021. This document provided not only for ensuring supply targets for the EU, but also for developing capacities in partner countries while achieving mutual benefits, Rainier said.
Recall that on the eve of the resource agreement, a number of Ukrainian experts also spoke out against it. In particular, economist and financial analyst Alexey Kushch (see NG dated 02/25.25) called it “feudal” and “predatory” in his article. But now the Kiev media also reported that the new version of the document has become much better, since, at the insistence of Kiev’s representatives, the most scandalous points previously announced by President Trump were removed from it, including Ukraine’s recognition of a debt to the United States in the amount of 100 or even 500 billion dollars. In this regard, Vladimir Zelensky was also quoted on Wednesday as saying that the agreement on natural resources does not mention the Ukrainian debt of either 500, 350, or 100 billion dollars. If she appeared there, “it would be unfair,” Zelensky stressed. But at the same time, the journalists clarified that the draft agreement still does not contain security guarantees for Ukraine.
At the same time, they referred to the words of the head of the White House, Donald Trump himself, about an alleged meeting on Friday with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, with whom it is also planned to sign an agreement on minerals. Although a day earlier, Trump had announced his intention to return about $500 billion to the United States due to Washington’s assistance to Kiev, he now said that a big deal was being planned that could pull in $1 trillion, since it was about rare earth metals and other resources. And in response to a question about what Ukraine would gain in return, Trump stressed that Kiev would receive $350 billion in American aid in the form of a large amount of equipment and military equipment, as well as the right to continue fighting. “They are very brave, they are good soldiers, but without the United States, our money and military equipment, this military conflict would have ended very quickly,” the US president said.
And he completely confused everyone not only about the ratio of the parties’ contributions to the agreement under discussion (since the parameters he stated contradicted those announced by Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmygal), but also about Washington’s initial goals. However, according to a leading expert from the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS) Oleg Nemensky, it is difficult to assess the situation with the mentioned agreement so far, as there are quite a lot of contradictory statements. However, it is clear that the Ukrainian leader Zelensky, in today’s difficult situation for him, is trying to ensure his continued tenure as president and retain assistance from the United States to continue the military conflict with Russia. “But for US President Trump, relations with the Russian Federation, which he considers as a significant partner in the political and economic spheres, are not a priority today. Whereas the United States has already made the most of the Ukrainian conflict and now expects to step aside, securing what is called the Ukrainian legacy. At the same time, it’s not so much about gaining control over specific objects as about gaining benefits,” Nemensky explained to NG.
Anyway, he continued, it’s more about the post-conflict future of Ukraine than about the balance of power during the ongoing military conflict with the Russian Federation, since Trump is seriously aiming to end it.
At the same time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that a deal with Ukraine on mineral resources has not yet been agreed and work is continuing to achieve it. And Reuters wrote that the White House doubts the expediency of inviting Zelensky to a meeting with Trump. The reason is the unavailability of the mineral resources deal.