The deal will create an investment fund governed by Washington and Kyiv that will oversee all new natural resource projects in Ukraine.
A new resource development deal between the United States and Ukraine will allow both countries to jointly invest in natural resource projects for decades to come.
Officials from the U.S. Treasury Department said during a press call on May 1 that the newly signed critical minerals deal between Washington and Kyiv would not only apply to rare earth metals but also to virtually all natural resource development in Ukraine, including oil, natural gas, and related infrastructure.
The officials described the deal, which representatives from both sides signed on April 30, as a “historic partnership” that will entwine the economies of both countries for years.
“This is not just rare earths [or] critical minerals … but it will also include oil and gas and critically, natural resources-related infrastructure to capture the full value chain associated with Ukraine’s economic development,” one Treasury official said.
The deal aims to generate substantial profits for both countries by establishing an investment fund that will funnel the royalties, license fees, and related expenses from all new natural resource projects in Ukraine back to a joint company held equally by Ukraine and the United States.
That setup will make the United States a key beneficiary of the reconstruction process in Ukraine when Russia’s ongoing invasion ends, and will grant the country sweeping investment opportunities for decades to come while encouraging a massive reconstruction of war-torn Ukraine.
“The idea [is] that the money that comes into the fund is going to be reinvested to increase the value for the owners of the fund, the United States and Ukraine, and generate long-term returns for both the American and Ukrainian people,” the official said.
In all, the deal consists of three separate legal documents, which both President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had a personal hand in negotiating.
The first document is the legal agreement between Ukraine and the United States that establishes the obligations of both parties in the joint partnership. It must now be ratified by Ukraine’s parliament to take effect.
The other documents include a limited partnership agreement to create the fund and incorporation materials for an LLC to govern the fund and its investments.
The partnership will be controlled by a company that is governed by a board of three Ukrainians and three Americans, according to a fact sheet shared with The Epoch Times by the White House.
That board will work collaboratively to make decisions about how to allocate the fund’s resources, which new investments to prioritize, and when to distribute payments to the two governments.
