No security guarantees for Ukraine in mineral resources deal

Is this good or bad? It's hard to say until the full text of the agreement is published and submitted to Parliament. The government did not involve the Verkhovna Rada in preparing the agreement, but will seek its ratification. So I will comment only on what is known from the press.

Any improvement in relations between Ukraine and the United States is positive, and the agreement contributes to that.

“As the President said, the United States is committed to helping end this brutal and senseless war,” stated Treasury Secretary Scott Bassent. “This agreement sends a clear signal to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peaceful process focused on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine in the long term.”

“That’s probably all we’ve heard about Ukraine’s security following the signing of the agreement. At least it's something - because the agreement itself contains no security guarantees.”

The press cites the following passage from the agreement: Kyiv and Washington agree that it affirms the “long-term strategic alignment” between the two countries and the “U.S. support for Ukraine’s security, prosperity, reconstruction, and integration into global economic systems.”

The agreement concerns rare earth metals, oil, and gas under new licenses, and does not include control over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant or other energy facilities.

As I’ve already written, Ukraine has few rare earth metals, and those that do exist have so far been unprofitable to extract - otherwise, they would already be mined.

The agreement doesn’t clarify who exactly will invest in the fund it establishes. It won’t be Trump or Bassent, but private companies. And if they’re not interested in investing, the agreement will be worth no more than the paper it’s printed on - and not worth our anxiety.

Now we await the full text, hoping the agreement will encourage the U.S. to support Ukraine with weapons and funding.

Source

About the author. Mykola Kniazhytskyi, journalist, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of blogs or columns.