US And Ukraine Ink Deal For 'Privileged' Resources Access

The US and Ukraine reached a deal over access to the country's natural resources, offering a measure of assurance to officials in Kyiv who had feared that President Donald Trump would pull back his support in peace talks with Russia.

The deal will grant the US privileged access to new investment projects to develop Ukraine's natural resources including aluminum, graphite, oil and natural gas. It's been seen as critical to fostering Trump's goodwill as his administration pushes to end the war that began when Russia mounted its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

Bloomberg's Kevin Whitelaw joins Stephen Carroll and Lizzy Burden on Bloomberg Radio to discuss.

“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”

Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a social media post that “together with the United States, we are creating the Fund that will attract global investment into our country.”

Trump, in a NewsNation town hall on Wednesday night, said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy when they both attended the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican last weekend that “I was telling him that it’s a very good thing if we can produce a deal that you sign.”

The signing ceremony on Wednesday concluded weeks of contentious negotiations and pulled the two countries back from a rift. Zelenskiy had come to Washington in February to sign the resources deal but went away empty-handed after he got into a testy back-and-forth with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office as the cameras rolled.

The accord was reached as Trump marked the first 100 days of his current term and is under pressure to secure victories as polls have shown an erosion of his favorability, driven largely by angst over his economic policies. He’s also been frustrated in delivering on promises to bring quick solutions to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Trump’s focus on Ukraine’s commodities has raised questions about what the nation actually has to offer. While he has previously referred to the agreement as a “rare earths” deal, Ukraine has no major rare-earth reserves that are internationally recognized as economically viable. It is, however, an established producer of coal, iron ore, uranium, titanium, and magnesium, and expanding those sectors could be profitable for the US.

Under the terms of the deal, the US would get first claim on profits transferred into a special reconstruction investment fund that would be jointly managed by both nations. The deal is intended in part to reimburse the US for future military assistance to Ukraine. The fund will be financed by 50% of the revenues from new licenses in projects relating to critical materials, oil and gas.

Washington also acknowledged Kyiv’s intentions for the deal to avoid any conflict with its plans to join the European Union — long seen as a red line for Ukraine in the talks.

Many questions remain about the extent of future US support, including whether Trump will send more of the weapons and ammunition that Ukraine has come to rely on in the fight against Russia. The deal offers no direct security guarantees by the US, though Svyrydenko said on social media that it “reaffirms the United States of America commitment to Ukraine’s security, recovery, and reconstruction.”

While Congress is unlikely to appropriate new money for Ukraine beyond what’s already been allocated, it’s important that the US continue intelligence sharing, which is “basically irreplaceable,” said Charles Lichfield, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center in Washington.

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