Kyiv, Ukraine – Ukraine will send a team to Washington next week to start negotiations on a new proposal for an agreement that would give the US access to valuable mineral resources of Ukraine, said Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
“The new US agreement shows that the intention to create a fund or investing remains,” Svyrydenko said on Saturday during his journey to Northern Ukraine.
The Kiev delegation will include representatives of ministries of economics, foreign affairs, justice and finance.
Long -term negotiations on the mineral agreement have already tense relations between Kiev and Washington. In February, both parties were preparing for the signing of the Framework Agreement, but the plan was derailed after a disputed meeting in an oval office between US President Donald Trump, Vice President of JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zlenskyyy.
After some Ukrainian lawmakers escaped a new proposal, critics killed him a little more than just an attempt to eliminate Kyiv control over his own natural resources and infrastructure. According to the escape document, the new design includes not only minerals of rare countries, but also gas and oil.
Ukraine holds significant deposits of more than 20 minerals considered strategically critical in the US, including titanium, which is used to produce aircraft wings, lithium, keys to several battery technologies and uranium used in nuclear energy. The new proposal only gives the US Party of Agreement
Despite the disruption after the meeting of the Oval Office, Ukrainian officials have shown interest in signing the Framework Agreement at any time and considered it an important step to gain the kindness of President Donald Trump and submerged US support in the war against the Russian invasion.
After weeks of silence, the US sent a new proposal to Kiev, which goes further than the original framework.
It is not clear why the US decided to circumvent the signing of the Framework Agreement and instead moved forward with a more comprehensive proposal by an agreement that would probably require ratification by Parliament of Ukraine.
However, Ukrainian officials were cautious about commenting on the content of the proposal and stressed that they were currently reflected only by the position of one party.
“What we now have is a document that reflects the position of the US legal team of the Ministry of Finance,” Svyrydenko said. “It’s not a final version, it’s not a common position.”
She said the task of Ukraine is to build a technical team for negotiations, define their red lines and basic principles, and send a delegation to Washington for technical interviews next week.
“It is obvious that the complete parameters of this agreement cannot be discussed online,” SvyryDenko said. “We have to sit down with teams and continue the conversation in person.”
The legal, investment and financial advisors are selected, she said.
“This means a new phase of relations with the United States – the one that requires expertise in multiple areas,” she said. “In the end, everything will be decided during the negotiations.” Ukraine is looking for conditions acceptable for both parties
SvyryDenko refused to publicly develop an official evaluation of a new proposal for Ukraine, but noted that there is now a more detailed document that suggests the creation of the fund. And while the initial proposal focused primarily on the intention of setting up the fund, SvyryDenko said that the latest versions determine how American advisors represent their structure and operation.
It remains unclear what role Ukraine would play in the fund management in the newly proposed US proposal. However, analysts who reviewed the evidence of the document said that the involvement of Kyiv is likely to be minimal – the point of Ukraine hopes to attack and use the previously agreed framework in the upcoming negotiations.
The previous version of the Framework Agreement acquired by the Associated Press has outlined the plans of the jointly owned and controlled investment fund between the United States and Ukraine, which aimed to support the reconstruction of the war economy of Ukraine.
According to the conditions, Ukraine would allocate 50% of future income from key national assets – including minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas and other extracted sources.
The Framework Agreement, which has never been signed, said that the revenue from its natural resources would go to the fund and will be used to reconstruct the country, not ownership or control of these resources would be transferred to the United States.
“We are very focused on ensuring that the final proposal for the agreement after negotiations fully in accordance with our strategic interests,” Svyrydenko said. “I believe that work on the previous memorandum has shown that both teams are able to achieve these goals and agree to the conditions acceptable to both parties.”
This article was generated from an automated news agency without text modifications.
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