The US is hoping Ukraine will agree to its new minerals deal, which will give it access to profits from the country’s rich natural resources, including titanium, lithium, uranium and graphite
The US has laid another minerals deal in front of Ukraine’s leadership – but what does it actually consist of? The previous proposal hailed by President Donald Trump fell apart after he and his crony JD Vance bullied Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington in front of the world’s media.
Trump is dead set on plundering Ukraine’s mines, claiming it’s essential for the US to claw back some of the money it spent supporting Ukraine against Kremlin aggression. He also sold the deal as a way of giving the US a financial stake in Ukraine, which he believes will keep Vladimir Putin at bay.
The specific minerals Trump wants to get his hands on are titanium, lithium, uranium and graphite, which are found in abundance in mines across the country.
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While the old deal is dead in the water, the new one is shrouded in mystery, with members of the Trump Administration refusing to detail the full terms.
However, the new terms are said to go well beyond those of the initial deal. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is said to be in charge of the negotiations.
Trump recently mentioned the US taking ownership of Ukraine’s power plants. However, this is said to have been omitted from the new proposal.
James Hewitt, National Security Council spokesperson, outlined the deal, saying:”The mineral deal offers Ukraine the opportunity to form an enduring economic relationship with the United States that is the basis for long-term security and peace.”
The earlier deal proposed setting up a joint investment fund, which would see Ukraine extracting the state-owned resources and depositing 50 per cent of all future profits. The new deal says the US will be offered first right of refusal to buy resources that have been extracted under the joint agreement. Ukraine will be unable to access the fund’s profits until the US recoups all the money it has dished out since 2002, plus a chunky four per cent annual interest charge.
Meanwhile, Moscow is reportedly finding the war-ending process “drawn out”, according to a Kremlin spokesperson. It comes after President Trump expressed frustration with both Putin and Zelensky as he belligerently pushes the pair for a truce.
“We are working to implement some ideas in connection with the Ukrainian settlement. This work is ongoing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
“There is nothing concrete yet that we could and should announce. This is a drawn-out process because of the difficulty of its substance,” he said when asked about Mr Trump’s anger at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments dismissing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy to negotiate a deal.
Russia has effectively rejected a US proposal for a full and immediate 30-day halt in the fighting. The feasibility of a partial ceasefire on the Black Sea, used by both countries to transport shipments of grain and other cargo, was cast into doubt after Kremlin negotiators imposed far-reaching conditions.
Mr Trump promised during last year’s US election campaign that he would bring Europe’s biggest conflict since the Second World War to a swift conclusion.
