Ukraine-US agreement to cover all resources, including oil and gas – FT
Illustrative photo: The Ukraine-US agreement will cover gas (Getty Images)
Ukraine and the US may sign a framework agreement on minerals this week and it will cover not only rare earth metals, reports the Financial Times.
The parties managed to make significant progress after US President Donald Trump agreed not to take into account the military aid that the Americans had previously provided to Ukraine in the agreement.
An unnamed senior Ukrainian official told the media that Washington's move could pave the way for a framework agreement to be signed this week.
They also clarified in a comment to the FT that the framework agreement covers all mineral resources, including oil and gas, and major energy assets throughout Ukraine.
Unnamed members of the Verkhovna Rada, including those from the Servant of the People party, said that they would not support a disadvantageous for Ukraine agreement and, accordingly, it would not be signed.
Minerals deal
Ukraine and the United States have been discussing signing a minerals agreement for several months.
The parties wanted to sign the framework agreement at the end of February. The document had already been agreed upon, but the plans were disrupted by a quarrel between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump at the White House.
Since then, Ukraine and the United States have only signed a memorandum, stating that the future agreement will open up opportunities for investment and modernization of Ukraine's infrastructure.
Yesterday, April 27, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that a key point of the deal had been agreed with the United States.
