Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has hosted a new mineral agreement with the United States, qualifying it as a “really equal” partnership which offers common advantages to both parties.
His comments intervened only a few hours after the Russian missile strikes killed two people and injured 15 others in response to the agreement signed on Wednesday, which aims to jointly develop critical mineral resources from Ukraine.
The agreement, which has taken months to negotiate, would see the United States and kyiv develop jointly and invest jointly in critical mineral resources in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump initially described the arrangement as “the back of money” for war -time assistance that Ukraine received Joe Biden under his predecessor.
Ukraine said the new agreement was not linked to any past “debt”, however. And US officials stressed that the agreement had reported American support to Ukraine.
“This agreement clearly reports to Russia that the Trump administration has engaged in a peace process centered on a free, sovereign and long -term prosperous Ukraine,” said US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent in Washington.
The agreement “changed considerably” during the negotiations, said Zelensky in his daily speech.
“Now, it’s a truly equal agreement that creates a fairly important investment opportunity in Ukraine.”
“There is no debt in the agreement, and a fund – a recovery fund – will be created that will invest in Ukraine and earn money here,” he added.
kyiv and Washington planned to sign the agreement in February, but a white house confrontation between Trump and Zelensky derailed the talks.
Ukraine hopes that the agreement will now open the way to the United States to offer security guarantees while seeking to protect itself against future Russian attacks after the three-year invasion of Moscow.
The agreement must still be ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament.
“Be silent and negotiate”
Under the agreement, Ukraine and the United States will establish a joint reconstruction investment fund.
The benefits of the agreement will be invested exclusively in Ukraine during the first 10 years, after which profits “could be distributed between the partners,” said kyiv.
The new agreement does not give any specific American security commitment, but Washington maintains that stimulating its commercial interests in Ukraine will help to dissuade Russia.
Moscow has maintained its attacks against Ukraine tirelessly, despite Trump’s efforts to negotiate a ceasefire.
A Russian night drone strike on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed two people and injured more than a dozen others, the authorities said.
“We need additional pressure on Russia to force him to be silent and negotiate. The more effective the sanctions, the more Russia will have to end the war,” said Zelensky on Telegram after the attack.
The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noel Barrot, told AFP on Thursday after Washington speaks with American Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that the European Union is preparing a 17th cycle of sanctions against Russia, describing President Vladimir Putin as “the only obstacle” for peace in Ukraine.
A bipartite group of American senators led by Republican Lindsay Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal also proposed last month, the legislation which would impose sanctions on friendly countries in Moscow if he disrupts efforts to end the war.
Russia rejected a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States and Ukraine in March, requesting the stopping of Western military aid for kyiv.
The United States has warned that this week would be “critical” to determine if it would go away from efforts to end the three-year war.
Putin declared a three -day surprise truce from May 8 to 10, coinciding with Moscow’s large -scale celebrations for the 80th celebrations of the Second World War Victory Day.
