US and Ukraine sign memorandum of intent on minerals deal

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Kyiv and Washington have signed a memorandum of intent pledging to advance an agreement on an investment fund for Ukraine’s natural resources and energy assets, officials familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.

The officials said the memorandum had been signed “virtually” and that they hoped to finalise the full economic accord as early as the end of next week.

Yulia Svyrydenko, first vice-prime minister and economy minister, confirmed the signing, posting a photograph of herself with Treasury secretary Scott Bessent each in their respective offices.

“Today we took a step towards a joint Economic Partnership Agreement with the United States,” she said, adding that the memorandum “testifies to the constructive joint work of our teams and the intention to finalise and conclude an agreement that will be beneficial to both our peoples”.

She said the full agreement would “open up opportunities for significant investments, modernisation of infrastructure, and mutually beneficial partnership between Ukraine and the United States”.

What Ukrainian officials said signalled “positive steps forward” — after talks were derailed following the confrontation between Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump in the White House in February — gets what has been a challenging negotiation process back on track.

Speaking at a briefing on Thursday prior to the signing, Zelenskyy said US negotiators had proposed an interim step as a gesture of goodwill, while legal teams from both sides continued to work on the details of the full accord.

“This is a memorandum of intent — not the agreement itself — but it reflects our constructive and positive intentions,” he said.

Later on Thursday, during a meeting with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office, Trump said his administration was planning to sign the full agreement on natural resources and energy assets next Thursday.

Bessent later clarified, however, that details were still being finalised, with the aim of signing by April 26, next Saturday.

He added that the deal was substantially the same as one previously negotiated, where Zelenskyy and Trump had not signed a memorandum of understanding. Ukrainian officials, however, said they have managed to bring the deal more in line with their preferences.

Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter said the sides were expected only to report progress by ​April 26, ​after Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal’s visit to Washington, with the goal of concluding discussions and signing shortly thereafter.​

They said it was possible to sign the full deal then but that it would not be clear until negotiations were finalised over the coming days. 

“I assume they’re going to live up to the deal​,”​ Trump said. 

Trump has advocated for a ​broad deal granting the US preferential access to Ukraine’s natural resources including critical​ minerals ​and rare earths, framing it as compensation for ​the billions of dollars in military aid supplied​ to Kyiv under Joe Biden’s administration. However, Zelenskyy has been wary of signing a deal that does not include security guarantees.

A draft of the ​US proposal sent to Kyiv​ last month and ​f​irst reported by the Financial Times went well beyond a joint economic accord outlined ​i​n February. The proposal marked a sharp escalation of Washington’s demands​ while offering Kyiv no security guarantees in return​.

Senior Ukrainian officials warned the deal ​as written could threaten national sovereignty, divert profits abroad and increase dependence on the US.

The proposal covered all mineral resources, including oil and gas, and called for a supervisory board with US veto power to oversee a fund splitting revenues from energy and mineral projects between the two countries.

​Since then, Ukraine has hired the US law firm Hogan Lovells to work with Olha Stefanyshyna, deputy prime minister and justice minister, to negotiate a better deal with the US, according to Ukraine’s government and a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing reviewed by the FT.

Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter told the FT that progress had been made to walk back some of the most contentious US demands, which could have kept the deal from being ratified by the country’s parliament. However, they declined to provide specifics while negotiations were still under way.

The matter has been so sensitive that Zelenskyy launched an investigation into the leak of the latest US proposal for profiting from the Ukrainian assets, which included the use of polygraph tests on government officials.

Once finalised, the agreement will need approval from Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.