The United States and Ukraine are set to finalize a landmark critical minerals agreement as early as Thursday, in a move that could reshape the geopolitical landscape of critical raw materials, but questions remain as to exactly how each party will benefit, and what Russia’s response will be.
Early on Wednesday, an Ukrainian government source told Reuters that Ukraine was ready to sign a mineral resources deal with the U.S., and that Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was en route to Washington for that express purpose.
Later on Wednesday, The Associated Press cited senior Ukrainian officials as confirming these reports, and the Ukrainian Prime Minister confirmed the same on national TV. “Truly, this is a strategic deal for the creation of an investment partner fund,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Ukrainian television. “This is truly an equal and good international deal on joint investment in the development and restoration of Ukraine between the governments of the United States and Ukraine.”
For Kyiv, signing this deal is essentially securing future U.S. military aid, which makes the chances of some sort of deal going through quite likely.
The deal, if signed, would give U.S. entities access to Ukraine’s vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals vital for energy, defense, and tech industries. According to the Reuters report, a newly established joint reconstruction fund will capture 50% of profits and royalties from future mining permits. Future U.S. military assistance will count as contributions to this fund, according to draft terms reviewed by multiple sources cited by Reuters.
What remains unclear is who will control that fund and who will decide how profits are allocated, with Reuters noting that previous tentative versions of this deal included a U.S. stake in Ukraine’s natural gas infrastructure, and that is now absent from the current version.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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