The United States and Ukraine have agreed on a significant mineral deal in a new update of the two countries relation.
As reported by CNN, on Wednesday night, April 30, the US and Ukraine signed an "economic partnership agreement."
The agreement will give Washington access to Kyiv's rare minerals in exchange for establishing an investment fund in Ukraine.
Following weeks of intense negotiations, the deal, referred to as the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, has been finalised.
While announcing the signed deal, the US Treasury Department noted, "As the President has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war."
The United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund
According to the agreement, all the resources will remain under Ukrainian ownership, and both the countries will manage and maintain co-ownership of the investment fund.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was expected to sign the deal during his trip to Washington in February, however, the plan went down the drain following a very confrontational Oval Office meeting.
In the previous meeting, Zelenskyy demanded security guarantee from US as part of the deal, which Trump refused, saying he wants to sign the deal first and talk about that later.
At that time, the Ukrainian President called the initial agreement as a way to "sell" his country, which prompted the US president to suspend all aids to Ukraine, a move which has now been revoked.
A Mineral-rich country
Ukraine has significant amount of minerals, and 22 out of 50 are considered critical by the US Geological Survey.
These mineral are rare earth mineral and are key for the production of clean energy technologies, weapon systems and electronics.
