U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions about Ukraine from reporters Tuesday in the White House, Washington, D.C. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI |
License PhotoFeb. 26 (UPI) — The United States made key concessions to seal a deal allowing it to tap Ukraine‘s deposits of critical minerals, including dropping its demand for a $500 billion share as repayment for military and economic assistance provided over the past three years, but gave no security guarantees.
A revised agreement to be signed by Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio drops a clause for 100% U.S.-ownership of a venture to monetize the resources in favor of a co-owned and managed Investment Reconstruction Fund with the U.S. and Ukraine respective shares determined by how much they contribute, according to Economic Pravda which said it had seen the document.
The United States will have the ultimate say over the fund within a U.S. legal framework but it will receive 50% of the revenues from Ukraine’s future natural resources, ports and infrastructure to reinvest in rebuilding Ukraine and its economy, according to the version which is dated Feb. 24.
Existing resources entities, including the state-owned energy producers Naftogaz and Ukrnafta, are exempted.
Also gone from the original draft U.S. President Donald Trump and his officials had been trying to get Ukraine to sign onto was the right for the United States to get the first $500 billion, with the $500 billion figure taking in all American assistance combined — armaments, monetary aid and funding U.S. government activities associated with the war, including assistance to other affected countries.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had been holding out over the size of the “debt” Trump said the United States was owed, saying it was closer to $100 billion, because he did not want to saddle future generations with liabilities they could not repay and that Ukraine needed security backstop.
A separate agreement, still to be negotiated, would lay down a detailed framework for the fund for the future, including exactly how the proceeds would be shared.
Zelensky was Wednesday preparing to fly to Washington for a meeting with Trump and his team in the White House on Friday to finalize the deal with the BBC reporting that Zelensky was coming to the table with the expectation that security guarantees were up for negotiation.
Washington has not confirmed the deal but responding to a press question asking what Ukraine would get out of it, Trump said it would get “the right to fight on.”
“They’re very brave. But without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been over in a very short period of time,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
He indicated that U.S. military assistance would continue to flow until a deal was reached was reached with Russia, but stressed it was critical to get that agreement to halt the fighting.
Trump also acknowledged any deal would need “some form of peacekeeping” but said it would have to be done in a way that was acceptable to all the parties.
