The United States and Ukraine have signed a memorandum of intent aimed at deepening economic ties through a potential investment agreement over Ukraine’s vast mineral and energy resources – a move being hailed as progress, though one laced with political sensitivity and geopolitical stakes.
Relational thaw
The memorandum, signed virtually by senior officials including Ukraine’s economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is not a finalised deal. But it marks a thaw in fraught negotiations that nearly collapsed following a fiery exchange between Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump earlier this year.
Deal by the weekend?
“This is not the agreement itself, but a sign of good intentions,” Zelenskyy said, emphasising that both sides remain in active talks. The full deal – should it materialise – is expected to be finalised as early as the weekend, April 26, following the visit of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to Washington.
The proposed agreement, reportedly similar in structure to one previously abandoned, would establish a shared investment fund to modernise infrastructure and exploit Ukraine’s lucrative natural resources, including oil, gas and rare earths. However, the details have raised eyebrows in Kyiv.
Positions have softened
Leaked drafts of Washington’s proposal suggested sweeping US oversight, including veto powers on a supervisory board and revenue-sharing clauses that some Ukrainian officials feared would undermine national sovereignty. In response, Kyiv engaged top legal counsel – Hogan Lovells – to negotiate fairer terms, with officials now indicating that the most controversial provisions have been softened.
Security guarantees – a sticking point
Yet the memorandum arrives at a politically precarious time. Trump has framed the deal as a form of repayment for the billions in military aid previously channelled to Ukraine under the Biden administration. Zelenskyy, for his part, remains reluctant to sign anything that doesn’t include security guarantees – a sticking point that remains unresolved.
Any finalised deal would need approval from Ukraine’s parliament, and insiders suggest a stormy path ahead. With polygraph tests reportedly used to trace leaks about the negotiations, the deal has already stirred deep unease within the Ukrainian government.
As global eyes remain fixed on Eastern Europe, this mineral pact could prove to be either a turning point in Ukraine-US relations – or another flashpoint in a region still navigating the fallout of war and politics.
