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Comes as Russian forces pressing on harder than ever while Putin claims to want ceasefire, says Ukraine military chief
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Ukraine and the US have announced they have reached a vital minerals deal following months of sometimes fraught negotiations.
In Washington on Wednesday, the two countries said they signed an agreement on a joint fund to invest in Ukraine’s reconstruction, with a draft saying Washington would get preferential access to new Ukrainian natural resources deals.
“In recognition of the significant financial and material support that the people of the United States have provided to the defense of Ukraine since Russia‘s full-scale invasion, this economic partnership positions our two countries to … accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery,” the US Treasury Department said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi has said Russian forces have significantly increased the intensity of their fighting in eastern Ukraine just when president Vladimir Putin is publicly talking about wanting a ceasefire.
On Monday, the Russian president offered a temporary 72-hour ceasefire from 8-10 May to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and allies in the Second World War.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky says such limited truces are meaningless, and urged Mr Putin to agree to an immediate ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.
At least three people were killed and 70 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, authorities say.
The US is seeking access to more than 20 raw materials deemed strategically critical to its interests, including some non-minerals such as oil and natural gas.
Among them are Ukraine’s deposits of titanium, which is used for making aircraft wings and other aerospace manufacturing, and uranium, which is used for nuclear power, medical equipment and weapons.
Ukraine also has lithium, graphite and manganese, which are used in electric vehicle batteries.
For Ukraine, the deal is seen as possibly key in getting future military aid from the US.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky meeting at Pope Francis’s funeral was “indicative” of the “effort” being put in to secure a peace deal for Ukraine, David Lammy has said.
The US and Ukrainian presidents were pictured in discussion at the Vatican over the weekend, having both travelled to Rome for the service.
The Foreign Secretary told the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee on Wednesday that Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have done “a lot of the heavy lifting” in terms of trying to bring nations together to support any potential future agreement.
Ukraine’s prime minister has hailed the minerals deal reached with the US as “equal and good”.
Denys Shmyhal said: “Truly, this is a strategic deal for the creation of an investment partner fund.
“This is truly an equal and good international deal on joint investment in the development and restoration of Ukraine between the governments of the United States and Ukraine.”
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said in a video posted to X that “this partnership allows the United States to invest alongside Ukraine, to unlock Ukraine’s growth assets, mobilise American talent, capital and governance standards that will improve Ukraine’s investment climate and accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery”.
Russian drones attacked Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa early on Thursday, sparking fires and damaging dwellings and infrastructure, the regional governor said.
There was no immediate word on casualties.
“The enemy is attacking Odesa with strike drones. There is considerable damage to civilian infrastructure, particularly dwellings,” Oleh Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Fires have broken out in a number of places.”
Pictures posted online showed heavy damage to the facades of buildings.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city in the northeast, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a drone had struck a petrol station in the city centre, triggering a fire.
Terekhov provided no further details.
The Ukrainian Cabinet approved the agreement on Wednesday, empowering Ukraine’s economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko to sign it in Washington.
Once signed by both sides, the deal would need to be ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament before it could take effect.
Ukraine and the US said on Wednesday they signed an agreement on a joint fund to invest in Ukraine’s reconstruction, and a draft of the deal said it would give Washington preferential access to new Ukrainian natural resources deals.
The two countries signed the accord in Washington after months of sometimes fraught negotiations, with uncertainty persisting until the last-moment with word of an eleventh-hour snag.
“In recognition of the significant financial and material support that the people of the United States have provided to the defense of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion, this economic partnership positions our two countries to … accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery,” the US Treasury Department said.
A draft of the minerals agreement seen by Reuters gave the US preferential access to new Ukrainian natural resources deals but did not automatically hand Washington a share of Ukraine’s mineral wealth or any of its gas infrastructure.
It provided for creation of a joint US-Ukrainian fund for reconstruction which will receive 50 per cent of profits and royalties accruing to the Ukrainian state from new natural resources permits in Ukraine.
The draft minerals deal between Ukraine and the US addresses the key issue of Ukraine’s security by references to the Budapest Memorandum, the 1994 documents signed by China, Russia, Ukraine, the US and UK.
It guaranteed Ukraine’s security when it gave up its vast nuclear arsenal.
In a 2014 speech, Marco Rubio, now US secretary of state, spoke passionately about America’s moral imperative to defend Ukraine against aggression after the nation gave up up its nuclear stockpile:
The US and Ukraine signed a deal on Wednesday to establish a reconstruction investment fund, the US Treasury Department has said in a statement.
“In recognition of the significant financial and material support that the people of the United States have provided to the defense of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion, this economic partnership positions our two countries to work collaboratively and invest together to ensure that our mutual assets, talents, and capabilities can accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery,” the Treasury Department said.
A senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday that she had signed an agreement on creating a US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, which would allow both countries to expand their economic potential and also contribute to Ukraine’s security.
“Together with the United States, we are creating the Fund that will attract global investment into our country,” First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X.
“Its implementation allows both countries to expand their economic potential through equal cooperation and investment,” she wrote. “The United States will contribute to the fund. In addition to direct financial contributions, it may also provide NEW assistance – for example air defense systems for Ukraine.”
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv and US sign minerals deal after lengthy negotiations – The Independent
