Yulia Svyrydenko. Photo: Hollie Adams-Bloomberg/Getty Images
This week, Ukraine will send an official delegation to Washington to continue negotiations with the US government on a new minerals agreement. This was announced by Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko in an interview with the Associated Press during a working visit to northern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian delegation includes representatives of the Ministries of Economy, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Finance. The purpose of the visit will be to agree on the key provisions of the new agreement, which covers not only rare earth minerals but also oil and gas reserves, which are considered strategic for both countries.
The previous draft, which envisaged the creation of an investment fund or joint projects in the extractive industry, caused controversy after it was published in the Ukrainian parliament. Some politicians and experts called it an attempt to deprive Kyiv of control over its own resources. We are talking about more than 20 minerals, including lithium, uranium, and titanium, which are critical to the US defence, energy, and high-tech industries.
The agreement was supposed to be signed back in February, but negotiations stalled after a contentious meeting in the Oval Office between US President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to sources, the Trump administration decided to promote a more comprehensive package of agreements instead of a framework agreement, which would require the approval of the Ukrainian parliament.
“What we have now is the position of the US Treasury Department’s legal team, not a jointly agreed text,” said Svyrydenko. According to her, the Ukrainian side is currently forming a technical group, defining key principles and “red lines” for future negotiations.
