Ukraine & US reach deal over mineral wealth, no S$666 billion demand but no security guarantees

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to the White House to sign a deal on mineral rights with President Donald Trump and the U.S.

According to the Financial Times, the U.S. dropped its initial demands for US$500 billion (S$666 billion) in revenue, and the final deal will see the U.S. and Ukraine jointly develop the embattled country's natural resource wealth, including oil and gas.

The deal, seen by FT, will establish a fund that the Ukrainian government will contribute 50 per cent of the future proceeds from state-owned mineral resources. It will not cover revenue from existing state-owned ventures related to mineral resources.

The fund will in turn invest in projects in Ukraine.

However, the deal will also not include security guarantees from the U.S., something which Ukraine was previously pushing for.

The agreement comes after Trump and Zelensky's public tiff, after Ukraine rejected the "onerous" terms of the first proposed deal on mineral wealth.

Trump accused his Ukrainian counterpart of being a "dictator" and Zelensky fact-checked Trump's inaccurate claims that U.S. aid to Ukraine had reached US$500 billion.

Ukraine's deputy prime minister, Olha Stefanishyna, told FT that the deal is part of a "bigger picture".

Key details such as the size of the U.S. stake in the fund and the terms of joint ownership will be further negotiated in future talks.

Trump refused to commit to further military aid to Ukraine, the BBC reported, saying that there needs to be a "deal with Russia", otherwise the war would continue.

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