Photo: Valentin Ogirenko / Reuters
The agreement between the United States and Ukraine on cooperation in the field of minerals is of much greater political than economic importance. This opinion was expressed by former US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker during a speech at the GLOBSEC conference in Prague, Ukrinform reports.
According to Volker, this document does not really concern only minerals, but provides for the creation of a special reconstruction fund, which should receive funds from mining licences. However, the diplomat believes that this fund will not receive real money for many years to come, as it requires peace, stability and significant investment.
“The reality is that there will be nothing coming into this fund… there will be no money for many years,” Volker said.
In his opinion, the key goal of the document is to change the American narrative about Ukraine: from the image of a victim who is simply “given money” to the image of an equal partner capable of paying its own expenses.
“This is an important change in the narrative in the United States… Now there is an argument that we have a strategy,” Volker said, drawing attention to the change in the attitude of conservative Republicans towards the topic of supporting Ukraine.
Volker also stressed that despite the war, there are still areas in Ukraine that are safe for investment. However, he called the weak business climate rather than the military threat the biggest barrier to foreign capital.
In this context, he also mentioned the July conference on Ukraine’s recovery to be held in Rome, stressing that previous similar events had not yielded real results. Volker called on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to initiate the creation of a permanent high-level executive body to coordinate Ukraine’s economic recovery.
“We have to be able to act faster than Putin,” Volker concluded, calling for strategic planning for reconstruction before the war ends.
