U.S. and Ukraine sign minerals deal

Washington and Kyiv have signed a minerals deal granting the U.S. access to Ukraine’s natural resources, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed in a tweet on April 30, following reports of last-minute hurdles that delayed the agreement by several hours. “Together with the United States, we are creating the Fund that will attract global investment into our country,” Svyrydenko said, attaching a selfie from Washington.

In a subsequent tweet thread, Svyrydenko explained that the agreement preserves Ukraine’s “full ownership and control,” allows Kyiv to “determine what and where to extract,” and creates a fund to be jointly managed by Ukraine and the U.S. The agreement itself will be submitted to Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, for ratification.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who signed the deal along with Svyrydenko, described it in a press release as a “historic economic partnership agreement” between Washington and Kyiv. “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,” Bessent said.

“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 added.