Ukraine announced yesterday that Kiev and Washington had signed a memorandum as an initial step towards reaching an agreement on the development of mineral resources in Ukraine, an agreement promoted by United States President Donald Trump, Reuters reports.
Although both sides were set to sign a natural resources cooperation agreement in February, it was delayed after an Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky turned into a brawl, according to Reuters.
"We are happy to announce the signing with our American partners," Yulia Sviridenko, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy, said on social media after the signing.
The memorandum paves the way for an economic partnership agreement and the establishment of an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine, she added.
The signing comes after officials in Kiev worked to repair ties following the Oval Office episode, recognizing that Ukraine needs U.S. support in its war with Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The minerals deal is part of that effort, officials in Ukraine said.
Trump said the agreement itself could be signed next week, although the Ukrainian side has given no indication of when it expects to conclude a full deal.
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A Ukrainian delegation traveled to Washington late last week for talks after the US offered a new, more expansive agreement. An initial framework pact was agreed upon but never signed.
"We have a minerals agreement, which I assume will be signed on Thursday," Trump told reporters at the White House earlier.
He has pushed for a deal that gives the US privileged access to Ukraine's natural resources and key minerals in what he sees as compensation for military aid provided under former President Joseph Biden.
"We're still working out the details," said Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who sat next to Trump in the Oval Office, adding that the signing could come as soon as next Friday.
"That's essentially what we agreed on earlier," he said. "When the president was here, we had a memorandum of understanding. We went right into the big deal, and I think it's an 80-page agreement and that's what we're going to sign."
The White House did not respond to a request for further details on the timing and content of the agreement.
Zelensky said that both sides can sign the memorandum online.
"This is a memorandum of intent. And we have positive, constructive intentions," he told reporters in Kiev, adding that the US side had made an offer to sign the memorandum before a comprehensive agreement, which would require ratification in the Ukrainian parliament.
Earlier, Sviridenko said that the memorandum was the first stage in which significant progress was recorded that Kiev and Washington had made in talks on the agreement.
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