Ukraine, US officials say they are about to sign the metal deal

Ukraine and the United States said on Wednesday that it is ready to sign a metal deal after months of negotiations sometimes, but an obstacle in the eleventh hours injected the uncertainty at timing.

“Our side is ready to sign,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Beesen told reporters at the White House.

“We are sure that they will reconsider it, and we are ready, if they were.”

Ukrainian official was on his way to Washington to sign. But a source said that the United States is pushing Ukraine to sign two additional documents, and Kiev felt that it was premature.

Bessent denied that the United States made any attempt to change the agreement approved by the two sides during the weekend.

The agreement, which will allow the United States to access mineral deposits in Ukraine, is essential to Kiev’s efforts to reform relations with US President Donald Trump and the White House as Trump tries to secure peace settlement in the Russian war in Ukraine.

Two sources told Reuters that the signing could happen later on Wednesday. Prime Minister in the country said earlier that the first deputy prime minister in Ukraine, Yulia Sfaidinko, was traveling to the United States to sign the deal.

The draft of the main metal agreement seen in Reuters showed that Ukraine had obtained the removal of any condition in its favor to pay the United States for previous military assistance, which Ukraine strongly opposed.

Washington has been the largest military donor in Ukraine since Russia invaded 2022 with the help of more than 64 billion euros (100 billion Canadian dollars), according to the Keel Institute in Germany.

Trump repeated on Wednesday that the United States should get something to help its previous to Kiev, and thus efforts to secure a deal for abundant deposits in Ukraine for rare ground minerals.

“I assume that they will respect the deal,” Trump said after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Ukrainian officials hope that the signing of the deal that Trump is promoting will lead to the role of American support Kiev in more than three years.

The draft showed that the draft agreement allows the preferential access to the United States to the new Ukrainian natural resources deals, but it does not automatically surrender a share of mineral wealth in Ukraine or any of its gas infrastructure.

“In fact, it is a strategic agreement … it is a truly equal international agreement on joint investments in the development and restoration of Ukraine,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Dennis Shmeisal.

The draft did not specify any concrete American safety guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s initial goals. Separately, Ukraine discussed with European allies to form an international force to help ensure Ukraine’s security if a peace agreement is reached with Russia.

Create a joint reconstruction fund

Mineral drafts determine the establishment of a joint Ukrainian Ukrainian Fund for Reconstruction, which will receive 50 percent of the accumulated profits and royalties to the Ukrainian state from new natural resource permits in Ukraine.

The draft does not explain how to spend the revenues of the joint fund, or who benefits from or controls the decisions related to spending.

In the televised comments, it said that once the main agreement is signed, the two sides will agree to another technical and complementary document that defines issues such as how to collect funds.

He said that Ukraine will reserve the control of all its resources in the deal, while the fund invests in the development of Ukraine for 10 years.

He said: “Ukraine will only make a contribution from new licenses, from new royalties on metal resources. This will be our contribution, as 50 percent of it will be granted to this fund.”

The United States said that the United States can use its future military assistance to Ukraine as a contribution to the fund, with no previous military assistance to the country in the deal.

The two sides signed a note, published on April 18, as an initial step towards obtaining an agreement to develop mineral resources in Ukraine. In the memo, they said they were aiming to complete the talks by April 26 and signing the deal as soon as possible.

Trump and officials in his administration threatened this month to stay away from the efforts made to connect a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine unless there are clear signs of progress soon.