Ukraine agrees to minerals deal with U.S. after Trump administration ‘drops toughest demands’ — FT

Ukrainian negotiators have reached an agreement with the Trump administration on the terms of a natural resources deal, The Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

According to Ukrainian officials, Kyiv agreed to sign a deal on the joint development of Ukraine’s mineral resources, including oil and gas, after Washington dropped its demand that the U.S. receive $500 billion in potential revenue from the venture.

The final version of the agreement, dated February 24 and reviewed by FT, stipulates the creation of a fund to which Ukraine will allocate 50 percent of future revenues from the extraction of minerals, oil, and gas. The fund will be used to invest in projects within Ukraine. According to The Financial Times, the fund’s activities will not apply to resources already included in Ukraine’s state budget, meaning it will not affect the operations of Naftogaz and Ukrnafta, the country’s largest oil and gas producers.

However, the agreement does not mention U.S. security guarantees, which Kyiv had insisted upon. Additionally, issues such as the U.S. share in the fund and the deal’s “joint ownership” terms are left unresolved, to be settled in subsequent agreements.

Ukrainian officials told the FT that the deal has been approved by the ministers of justice, economy, and foreign affairs. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada must also approve it. According to the newspaper’s sources, President Zelensky is expected to travel to the White House in the coming weeks for a signing ceremony with Trump.

FT’s sources in Ukraine said the settlement reached is merely a “framework agreement” and that no revenues will be transferred until the fund itself is established.

On February 24, Donald Trump announced that he planned to meet with Zelensky in the Oval Office within the next two weeks to sign the natural resources agreement.

President Zelensky included the mineral resources proposal in the “Victory Plan” he presented to American leaders in September 2024. President Trump has said he expects to receive $500 billion worth of mineral resources from Ukraine in exchange for American aid. During U.S.-Ukrainian negotiations, Washington proposed several versions of a resource agreement. One of them stipulated that the U.S. would receive a 100-percent stake in the joint fund to be created as part of the deal. Ukraine rejected this demand, and it was removed from the final version of the agreement.