US toughens terms of minerals deal with Ukraine: NYT reveals what changes
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
The USA and Ukraine continue to discuss signing an agreement on a minerals deal. Washington will offer Kyiv a draft document with stricter terms than before, The New York Times informs.
New draft agreement on minerals deal
Today, on April 11, technical negotiations on the minerals deal between Ukrainian and American delegations begin in Washington.
The Ukrainian delegation is headed by Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Economy responsible for trade. It includes representatives from the ministries of economy and justice.
According to the NYT, the USA has prepared a new proposal for Ukraine, which reinstates US President Donald Trump’s demand that Ukraine repay billions for military and economic assistance.
In particular, as before, the agreement stipulates that Ukraine must contribute half of its revenues from natural resource extraction projects, key minerals, oil, and gas, into an investment fund controlled by the USA.
The plan is for the profits from this fund to be reinvested in Ukrainian natural resource extraction projects.
Additionally, the new draft agreement does not mention any security guarantees for Ukraine, which does not meet Kyiv's requirements.
Toughening the terms of the agreement
As the media outlet writes, the draft agreement includes tougher conditions for Ukraine. The document stipulates that the US will claim all profits from the fund until Kyiv "reimburses at least the equivalent of American aid received during the war, plus an annual 4 percent."
Additionally, the US wants to secure the "right of first offer" on new projects and the right to veto the sale of Ukrainian resources to third countries. Furthermore, in the first year of the agreement, Ukraine is planned to be prohibited from offering any investment projects to third parties on more favorable financial or economic terms than those proposed by Washington.
The US also plans for the fund to be controlled by the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) — a US government agency responsible for investing in companies and projects abroad. The agency will have the right to appoint three members to the board of directors, while Ukraine will only be allowed to appoint two. The DFC will also control every project that the fund invests in.
Unnamed Ukrainian officials told the NYT that they view these terms as a proposal to start further negotiations.
Ukraine and the US were supposed to sign a framework agreement on subsoil resources at the end of February. However, this did not happen due to a dispute between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump.
Afterward, the US suggested that Ukraine move from a framework agreement directly to a full agreement. According to President Zelenskyy, the new draft contains elements that had already been rejected by both sides.
