Trump and Zelensky set to seal $500B resource deal

According to the "Financial Times," both parties have negotiated a draft agreement in which the United States gives up claims to $500 billion in potential revenues from exploiting these resources. The British newspaper was the first to report plans to establish a fund to which Ukraine would contribute 50% of the proceeds from the "future monetization" of state mineral resources, including oil and gas, and related logistics. This fund would invest in projects in Ukraine.

Since early February, the Trump administration has advocated for an agreement granting the United States access to Ukrainian rare earth metal deposits. According to Washington, this is supposed to be a form of payment for the American aid provided to Kyiv. Donald Trump claims that the United States has spent $300 to $350 billion on aid to Ukraine, though in reality, this figure is at least half as much. People close to Trump also argue that an "economic partnership" with the United States would guarantee Ukraine's future.

Meanwhile, according to Zelensky, Ukraine does not owe anything to the United States. He believes the final version of the agreement, set to be signed on Friday, will confirm this. On Wednesday, the Ukrainian president stated that Ukrainian officials evaluate the draft agreement highly and believe that "it might work."

Zelensky emphasized that, contrary to media reports, Ukraine is not considered a debtor in the agreement. He clarified that there is no mention of a $500 billion, $350 billion, or $150 billion debt, asserting that including such a provision would be unfair to Ukraine.

He emphasized that Ukraine must know what to expect from the United States regarding the agreement and announced that he intends to ask Trump directly whether he will halt military aid to Kyiv. "This is the beginning; for now, it's a framework agreement," he noted in a conversation with journalists, pointing out that "this agreement could turn out to be a great success or simply disappear."

The Ukrainska Pravda portal published the agreement's text on Wednesday. The portal emphasized that the document concerns "the establishment of the rules and conditions for the Investment Recovery Fund." The agreement is between the governments of the United States and Ukraine, and it does not contain any provision stipulating that Ukraine will receive security guarantees from the United States.

According to Trump, the raw materials agreement alone would guarantee Ukraine's security. "We're going to be working over there. We'll be on the land, and you know, that way it's this sort of automatic security, because nobody's going to be messing around with our people when we're there," assured the American president.

The agreement between the United States and Ukraine, which is set to be signed on Friday, calls for the creation of an Investment Recovery Fund, financed among others by the extraction of deposits, including oil and gas, to which Ukraine will contribute 50% of the proceeds. This was reported by the European Pravda portal.

The first point of the agreement states that the governments of both countries will establish an Investment Recovery Fund to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine. They will manage the fund jointly. Joint ownership will be specified by a separate Fund Agreement drawn up later, including details on Fund management and operations. The maximum percentage of US-owned capital and financial interests of the Fund and the authority of US government representatives to make decisions will be determined based on current US legislation.

Neither party to the agreement "will sell or transfer" any part of their share in the Fund without the written consent of the other party.

The next point states that the Fund will invest in projects in Ukraine and attract investments to increase development, exploitation, and monetization of all state and private assets. The parties reserve the right to take actions necessary to protect and maximize the value of their economic interests in the Fund.

Andrzej Jagielski, an expert from the National Geological Institute, commented that Ukraine's valuable resources are valued at $15 trillion. According to him, gaining access to Ukrainian deposits would allow the United States to challenge China's dominance in this area.

An expert from the Polish Geological Institute noted that Ukraine currently has some of the largest deposits of critical raw materials in Europe, essential, for example, for developing space, defense, or energy technologies. This country is one of the ten most significant holders of documented titanium deposits, and when it comes to lithium, Ukraine has one-third of Europe's resources. In addition, the country has significant amounts of tantalum, niobium, beryllium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite.

The use of these raw materials by humanity represents a massive leap in civilizational development, comparable to the transition from the Stone Age to the Iron Age," said Andrzej Jagielski.

He added that countries with access to these resources will be able to develop much faster and decide where these valuable minerals will go. This means, he explained, that it will depend on them how fast various regions of the world develop.