Trump administration signs minerals deal with Ukraine in key move for Russian peace

Agreement is aimed at centering future US engagement in Ukraine

The Trump administration reached a deal with Ukraine to give U.S. investors preferential access to Ukraine’s supply of rare earth minerals on Wednesday, weeks after an Oval Office blow-up between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put it on hold.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the news in a press release later, which described the agreement as a recognition of the “significant financial and material support that the people of the United States have provided to the defense of Ukraine.”

“As the president has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war,” said Bessent. “This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.”

The president “envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. 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,” Bessent continued.

Axios and Bloomberg first reported that the deal was to be signed on Wednesday, citing senior Ukrainian officials. Yulia Svyrydenko, Zelensky’s first deputy prime minister, was in Washington for the signing.

Donald Trump’s confrontation with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in late February delayed the two countries from reaching a minerals deal

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Donald Trump’s confrontation with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in late February delayed the two countries from reaching a minerals deal (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The agreement is a modification of a previous offer, in which the U.S. demanded billions in repayment for past funding of Ukraine’s defense.

The latest version instead envisions U.S. investments in Ukraine’s rare earth minerals sector as part of joint deals with Ukrainian businesses that will keep control split 50-50 between the two countries. Investments will be tax-free, while Ukrainian exports of rare earth minerals to the U.S. will be immune from tariffs under the deal.

Under the plan, all money raised for development of Ukraine’s minerals will go into a fund managed jointly by the U.S. and Ukrainian governments. American military assistance going forward will count toward that total. Ukraine’s prime minister said that the deal contained no obligations regarding previous U.S. military support.

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The final minerals deal would also provide for Ukraine’s continued "full control over subsoil, infrastructure, and natural resources," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Bessent denied that any changes had been made in the agreement from the U.S. side, though Trump has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine repay the billions in assistance approved under the Biden administration. The Independent reported that a previous iteration also created a pathway for U.S. control over some Ukrainian infrastructure.

Bessent claimed in February that reaching such a deal on Ukraine’s rare earth minerals would mean an effective “security shield” for Ukraine. The Trump administration and its Republican allies in Congress have been increasingly opposed to the kind of formal military support packages passed repeatedly to support Ukraine under the Biden presidency.

Zelensky’s deputy economy minister told Axios that the deal was meant to spur further U.S. investment in Ukraine’s defense, rather than to repay past support.

"This agreement is a win-win and it is written in friendly language. it is about investments, investments and investments," said Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s deputy minister for Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture.

Svyrydenko added that Ukrainian contributions to the fund would be generated by revenues from new licenses purchased by companies for development.

The news that the agreement was finally reached put an end to weeks of fraught negotiations between Washington and Kyiv exacerbated by Trump and Vice President JD Vance jointly confronting Zelensky in a furious argument before the cameras at the White House earlier this year. Zelensky quickly left Washington afterward without reaching an agreement on the deal’s framework.

The deal also signals a warming of the Trump administration to Ukraine’s side, a development that comes after the president made multiple statements accusing Zelensky of being a “dictator,” and expressing support for Russia maintaining at least some of its territorial gains in Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Trump has publicly speculated that Moscow is not being genuine in its approach to peace talks which Trump has sought to take credit for from the beginning.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said on Tuesday that administration officials believe a ceasefire is impossible to reach if Trump can’t orchestrate one.

She told the New York Post: "The president has devoted 100 days and his very top people to Russia and Ukraine, and if peace is not achieved, it will be because it can’t be achieved. It just cannot."

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-minerals-deal-ukraine-russia-b2742685.html