Zelensky Says Ukraine Is ‘Ready' to Sign Minerals Deal
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Ukraine plots fracking revolution
Ukraine is working to unleash natural gas fracking with the goal of becoming a major exporter and revolutionising Europe's energy market. In plans critical to Volodymyr Zelensky's hopes of a post-war economic recovery, ministers in Kyiv are scrambling to lure private investment and gain access to new drilling technology to access the country's vast untapped shale gas resources. According to sources close to Kyiv, officials are racing to attract 'foreign technology and highly experienced subsoil users', with a focus on unconventional shale resources in western Ukraine. The hunt for cash - as revealed by the independent news platform Energy Flux - is being conducted in parallel to the rare earth minerals deal struck between Donald Trump and President Zelensky in April, which will allow the US to exploit Ukraine's natural resources, including aluminium, graphite, oil and natural gas. The priority is to rapidly revitalise Ukraine's ailing gas sector after a gruelling winter saw roughly 40pc of production capacity taken out by a fierce Russian campaign of drone and missile strikes. The attacks forced Ukraine to draw heavily on its gas stocks, which ended winter almost entirely depleted. But Ukraine's Ministry of Energy believes it is possible to refill the country's cavernous underground storage facilities and even produce a surplus for export 'within 18 months', according to a senior government source. Ukraine already has some experience with advanced drilling technology for old wells and has since carried out experimental trials that 'confirm its potential' for fracking, they said. However, to unlock Ukraine's shale reserves, the country needs to attract more investment and newer kit, primarily from America. 'Development and production can be quickly developed using available gas infrastructure with connections to the EU gas market that make it very attractive,' the source added. 'Ukraine has enough deposits of traditional gas to cover its own consumption and to become a net exporter, and shale gas production has quite a profound effect on its development.' Such a turnaround would help transform the fortunes of Europe's energy markets, which remain on edge following the loss of Russian pipeline gas exports via Ukraine at the start of 2025. Refilling Ukraine's depleted gas storage – the largest in Europe, at 32bn cubic metres – is one of the main factors tightening energy markets in Central and Eastern Europe ahead of next winter. Ukraine's gas stocks are today just 7pc full compared to the EU average of 50pc. Efforts to pipe natural gas from Southern and Eastern Europe into Ukraine have also been thwarted by red tape and a lack of market cohesion. However, if Ukraine could unleash its own shale revolution and create a surplus for export, the need to keep pumping European gas into Ukraine would effectively disappear overnight. It would also help reduce Europe's reliance on costly liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from overseas. Gas-starved Europe leaned heavily on LNG after Gazprom, the Kremlin-backed energy giant, halted exports to the EU following Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Ukrainian shale gas exports, if scaled up quickly, would erase a large chunk of European energy demand currently being met by LNG, potentially sparking a sharp drop in energy prices around the world. However, Kyiv's proposed fracking revolution hinges largely on the country's ability to secure overseas investment. Officials from Ukraine's Ministry of Energy are tapping Western diplomatic ties to find private capital funds with a high tolerance for risk to bankroll drilling and bring in technology partners. A senior government team attended the Baku Energy Forum in Azerbaijan last week in part to promote Ukraine's potential as a shale hub. Speaking at the event, one high-ranking statesman said the Lviv-Lublin geological area that straddles the Ukraine-Poland border is 'superior on the Ukrainian side' thanks to higher porosity and lower clay content, making it 'better for fracking'. The most promising prospect is the Oleska (Olesskaya) shale block, which contains an estimated 0.8 to 1.5 trillion cubic metres of shale gas resources – enough to meet Ukraine's domestic needs for decades. How much of this resource is economically recoverable is an open question. Chevron walked away from a 50pc interest in the Oleska project in 2014 before drilling could begin. Chevron's stated reason for leaving was not because of political instability or lack of resources, but rather Kyiv's failure to enact specific tax reforms necessary to enable shale gas foreign investment. Now, the Zelensky administration is moving to streamline operations and reduce bureaucratic hurdles that previously deterred foreign investors. Ownership of the Olesskaya production sharing agreement (PSA) was transferred in April 2025 from government holding company Nadra Ukraine to Ukraine's largest oil and gas producer, Ukrnafta. The move signalled a strategic shift in the country's approach to fracking, particularly in the Oleska block. Ukrnafta is a state-owned enterprise following the nationalisation of strategic industries and declaration of martial law in 2022, which remains in force to this day. Attracting significant private capital into Ukrainian shale exploration would normally be impossible under these circumstances. However, the source said there are laws in place to ensure they can be overwritten.
Yahoo
5 days ago
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Nato chief: Trump could walk away if Europe doesn't spend more
Donald Trump could walk away from Nato if European countries and Canada don't increase their spending, the alliance's secretary general suggested on Wednesday. Mark Rutte said the US president's commitment to the Article 5 mutual defence clause was based on the 'expectation' that European allies and Canada meet spending targets. While saying the US was 'completely committed to Nato' for now, he added: 'They expect European and Canadian allies to spend much more, because why would they spend their percentage on defence, and then the rest of the alliance a lower percentage? 'So we have to increase spending first of all, because we have to reach all those capability targets and close the gaps. We still have to make sure that we can also fight Russians if they try to attack us in three to five years, but also to equalise with the US. And I think that is only fair.' In a sign of America cooling on allied support for Ukraine, Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, was notably absent from the meeting of 50 defence ministers at the Nato headquarters in Brussels. It marks the first time he has not attended the regular meeting, which has been crucial in organising military aid for Kyiv. Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to Nato, was due to attend in his place. It came after The Telegraph reported that Nato member states were on the brink of agreeing to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP to placate Mr Trump's complaints that Europe was too reliant on America for its defence. The US president has previously claimed he would let Russia do 'whatever the hell they want' to Nato countries not meeting the original expenditure target of 2 per cent. Mr Rutte said the new defence spending strategy would be signed off by leaders at a Nato summit later this month. It will be split into 3.5 per cent on hard defence and 1.5 per cent on related infrastructure, such as cyber security or railroads. The Nato chief said: 'This is needed so that our militaries have the critical capabilities they need. This is good for our security and, by the way, also good for our economies. 'Defence spending keeps us safe, but it also creates jobs across the alliance.' Also addressing the ministers, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, suggested more had to be done, including adding more lethality to his armed forces, to force Vladimir Putin into accepting a ceasefire. Mr Zelensky, via video link, said: 'We must not allow Russia to distort reality or mislead the world. Moscow must be forced into diplomacy. We need a ceasefire. We need real peace. We need real security. We must use all the means at our disposal to achieve this: our front lines and defence, our production and technology, our work to create a real security architecture. We must be effective in all of these.' During his speech, Mr Zelensky invited the ministers to join him for a moment of silence to honour children killed during Russia's full-scale invasion. Speaking after the Ukrainian leader, John Healey, the UK Defence Secretary, told the meeting: 'President Putin continues to prove he's not for peace.' Mr Healey said Russia could sustain its daily efforts to fire hundreds of drones at Ukrainian cities for the rest of the year because of its shift to a war-time economy. He argued that this meant Ukraine's allies had to continue to step up their support of Kyiv's defence. 'Each of us understand that Ukraine's ability to resist and prevail depends on our enduring, our co-ordinated and our accelerated support... It's our shared responsibility,' Mr Healey urged his fellow ministers. It is expected that member states will be given until 2032 to reach the new target. Mr Whitaker told reporters: 'The United States is committed to Nato.' However, he said there would be pressure on its member states to reach the new target quicker than the existing 2 per cent pledge, set in Wales in 2014. There are a number of countries, including Spain, that don't currently meet it. Mr Whitaker said: 'We cannot have another Wales pledge with a year 10 or 11 hockey stick, and so we are asking all allies to increase their budgets as far as they can and as quickly as they can.' The latest defence spending hike puts Labour under pressure to reveal how it plans to meet the goal, after its strategic defence review failed to set out a route to even 3 per cent. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has previously said he would set out plans to reach 3 per cent on defence spending by the next parliament, which starts in 2029. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
5 days ago
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NATO wrestles over how to handle Ukraine at Trump summit
How to have Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky at NATO's Hague summit and avoid a bust-up with US President Donald Trump? What to say on Kyiv's desire to join their alliance? With NATO appearing on track to seal a deal on ramping up defence spending, another thorny issue now threatens to overshadow the gathering in three weeks: what to do about Ukraine? When they met in Washington a year ago, NATO's leaders feted Zelensky, pledged more military hardware and vowed Kyiv was on an "irreversible path" for membership in their alliance. That was before Trump's return to the White House ripped up Washington's support for Ukraine and upended the West's approach to Russia's three-year war. Since he regained the US presidency, Trump had a dramatic Oval Office falling out with Zelensky, opened the door to warmer ties with Moscow and forced both sides to the negotiating table. Kyiv's European backers have pushed to invite Zelensky to the June 24-25 meeting in the Netherlands to show NATO still stands strongly behind Ukraine. But the United States has been reluctant even to have Zelensky there and the reality is Trump has already blown a huge hole in Western backing for Kyiv. The Ukrainian leader said this week he'd received an invite from NATO chief Mark Rutte for Kyiv to be there in some form. "We can confirm that Ukraine will be with us in The Hague," a NATO official told AFP. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Zelensky could come for a dinner hosted by the Dutch king for NATO leaders, but that there likely wouldn't be formal talks between Ukraine and the alliance. "It will be a PR disaster if he's not there," a European diplomat said, speaking as others on condition of anonymity. - Uncertainty over peace talks - How Zelensky may be received in The Hague looks set to depend heavily on the progress, if any, of fraught talks with Russia over the next few weeks. So far two rounds of meetings between the warring sides in Istanbul have produced few results. Trump appears to be getting increasingly annoyed with Russian President Vladimir Putin for dragging his feet on a ceasefire. But the US leader still hasn't responded with sanctions against Moscow and has equally expressed his displeasure with Zelensky's outspokenness. Rutte has insisted that Ukraine remains a "priority" issue at the summit. Diplomats, however, say that the overwhelming focus is on striking an agreement on spending that satisfies Trump's demands to spend five percent of GDP on defence -- and keeps the United States on board at NATO. Multiple officials say the alliance looks set to reach a compromise put forward by Rutte of 3.5 percent of GDP on core defence, and 1.5 percent on broader spending such as infrastructure. "Defence spending is the most important part and no one wants to jeopardise that," a second diplomat said. - Silence is golden? - One area where there doesn't seem much uncertainty is that NATO will steer clear of its previous strong statements that Ukraine is on course to join the alliance. Trump has repeatedly poured cold water on Ukraine's ambition to become a member and even blamed Kyiv's bid to join for provoking Russia's war. NATO is aiming to keep a final declaration from the summit short and avoid mention of Ukraine's possible membership to not open up any fissures. "There will be nothing on that," said a third diplomat, at NATO. "My expectation is we will be absolutely silent." There also looks set to be no joint statement on military support from the alliance's 32 countries as Trump has hit the brakes on assistance. In a sign of how far the US has moved, officials said US defence secretary Pete Hegseth won't attend a meeting of NATO backers in Brussels on Wednesday. He will however jet in for a meeting of NATO defence ministers on Thursday. del/ec/giv
