Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Yulia Svyrydenko and the US Secretary of Treasury, Scott Bessent (not seen) sign the outline of a rare earth minerals deal over an online call, in Kyiv, Ukraine on April 17, 2025.
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Ukraine said Thursday that it had signed the basis of a minerals deal with the U.S., although the details of the outline agreement are yet to be announced.
Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s minister of economic development and trade, said both sides had signed a “memorandum of intent” that was the basis of an agreement that is likely to see Ukraine and the U.S. jointly develop the country’s natural resources.
“We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine,” Svyrydenko posted on social media platform X.
“There is a lot to do, but the current pace and significant progress give reason to expect that the document will be very beneficial for both countries,” she added.
Svyrydenko, who is also Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, gave no further detail on the contents of the outline deal but posted images of her and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent purportedly signing the agreement.
U.S. Secretary of Treasury, Scott Bessent (C) signs the basis of a rare earth minerals deal on April 17, 2025.
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Earlier Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Bessent had told reporters that a comprehensive agreement would be signed next week.
“Well, we have a minerals deal, which I guess is going to be signed on Thursday — next Thursday [24 April]? Soon. And I assume they’re [Ukraine] going to live up to the deal, so we’ll see. But we have a deal on that,” Trump said at a press conference at the White House on Thursday.
Bessent added that “we’re still working on the details. We’re shooting for around April 26th.”
Asked for more details, the treasury secretary said the deal was “substantially what we agreed on previously [with Ukraine] … We went straight to the big deal, I think it’s an 80-page agreement, and that’s what will be signed.”
CNBC has asked the White House for further detail on the deal and is awaiting a response.
Trump has coveted a minerals deal with Ukraine since his inauguration in January, saying an agreement to jointly develop and monetize Ukraine’s deposits of rare earths, critical minerals, oil, gas and other natural resources would act, effectively, as compensation for U.S. aid to Ukraine throughout the war with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also signalled on Thursday that the outline of a deal had been reached, telling reporters, “this is a memorandum of intent. And we have positive, constructive intentions,” Reuters reported.
He added that the offer to sign the memorandum before the comprehensive deal, which would require the Ukrainian parliament to ratify it, had come from the U.S. side, the news agency noted.