Latest news with #American-Ukrainian
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S.–Ukraine minerals deal: the main points of the newly signed agreement
The U.S. and Ukraine signed the long-awaited minerals agreement on April 30, paving the way for further American support of Kyiv through a joint investment fund that will contribute to Ukraine's reconstruction. The deal comes after months of sometimes fraught negotiations, including an Oval Office shouting match between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that derailed its signing in February. While the U.S. officials had pushed for a swift agreement, Ukraine insisted on including security guarantees in the deal, and ensuring any agreement wouldn't be considered as repayment for any previous aid. Over the weekend, Ukrainian officials announced that they had managed to secure the removal of any requirement for Kyiv to pay back the U.S. for previous military assistance, but that any future aid would be counted toward the deal. While the current deal doesn't contain any security guarantees, Ukraine's Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko wrote on X to say that 'in addition to direct financial contributions (to the fund), the deal may also provide new assistance — for example, air defense systems for Ukraine.' Following its signing between Svyrydenko and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers published the full text of the agreement on its website. The agreement signed on April 30 lays the groundwork for the creation of a fund that will operate as a limited partnership with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation on the American side, and the Agency for Supporting Public-Private Partnership representing Ukraine. The future fund will be financed exclusively from new licenses. Fifty percent of revenues from new licenses in the fields of critical materials, oil, and gas, generated after the fund is created, will be directed to it, Svyrydenko said. Earlier leaked versions were met with backlash and caused speculation the agreement could have given the U.S. unprecedented access to revenues of state-owned Ukrainian giants, particularly in the energy sector. The agreement also provides a precise list of 57 mineral resources that the deal applies to, including strategic metals like uranium and lithium, rare earth elements, precious metals such as gold and platinum, oil, and natural gas. This list can be expanded only by agreement of both parties. The agreement stipulates that Ukrainian authorities must require anyone with mining or infrastructure licenses to share investment opportunities with the American-Ukrainian fund. Other interested parties cannot be offered more favorable terms if the fund shows interest in any investment, the agreement says. Earlier versions of the agreement also raised alarm over its potential conflict with an earlier agreement signed between Ukraine and the EU on its mineral resources in 2021. The newly signed deal requires any future investments under the fund to comply with Ukrainian and EU laws, without hindering Ukraine's EU accession process. "If, after the signing of this agreement, Ukraine needs to assume additional obligations related to its European Union accession that could impact this provision, the parties shall consult and negotiate in good faith to adopt adjustments,' the agreement reads. All income, contributions, and payments related to the fund activities in Ukraine will not be taxed, either in Ukraine or the U.S. In turn, the U.S. pledged not to impose restrictive trade tariffs on mineral products that the fund would buy from Ukraine. The document also guarantees free conversion of hryvnia to dollars for necessary transactions. If Ukraine's financial stability is threatened by foreign exchange shortages, the Ukrainian government may restrict currency conversion and transfers after consulting with the U.S. Treasury. Opposition MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak, who has had access to versions of the agreement and has been regularly commenting on it on his popular Telegram channel, called the deal's signing on April 30 'political' and just the first step toward further deals. This latest agreement requires ratification by Ukraine's parliament to come into effect, Zhelezniak said, adding that it could be voted on during parliamentary sessions between May 13-15, if all procedures can be completed in time. After ratification, two more parts of the mineral agreement will follow — a treaty between the DFC and the Agency from Ukraine, and a technical part. "Additionally, several laws will need to be amended, including specifically the Budget and Tax Codes," Zhelezniak wrote. Read also: The full text of the US, Ukraine minerals agreement We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
ITV News
01-05-2025
- Business
- ITV News
America and Ukraine strike highly anticipated minerals deal
Loading spinner America and Ukraine strike highly anticipated minerals deal Thur 1 May 7am • American-Ukrainian 'reconstruction investment fund' announced, two months after White House row
Russia Today
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
EU strategy towards Ukraine is ‘rudderless'
The EU has messed up its policy on the Ukraine conflict, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. He reproached Brussels for its pro-war stance, while Washington is actively negotiating with both Moscow and Kiev to end the hostilities. Earlier this week, Hungary refused to endorse the EU's joint statement on Ukraine following the European Council meeting in Brussels. The document reaffirmed the bloc's uncompromising stance on the conflict and its intentions to further supply the country with weapons. 'I'm trying to find a good word that isn't offensive to them, but accurately describes the situation; perhaps 'rudderless' is the right term,' Orban said on Friday in an interview with Kossuth Radio, when asked to assess the EU's strategy regarding Ukraine and during the post-war period in general. Read more Something needs to be done to save Germany. €1 trillion of debt is not it The Hungarian leader warned that at some point, Europeans will find themselves in 'a situation where everything is already settled,' emphasizing that Brussels won't even be needed for the agreements that could eventually be reached by Washington. Shortly after taking office on January 20, US President Donald Trump launched a diplomatic campaign aimed at mediating an end to the conflict. His special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, recently suggested that a complete ceasefire between Kiev and Moscow could be reached within several weeks. 'There will be an American-Ukrainian agreement, an American-Russian agreement, and even a Russian-Ukrainian agreement brokered by them [the US],' Orban said, stressing that the bloc had 'messed up.' READ MORE: Europe's policy on Ukraine conflict 'paradoxical' – Kremlin The prime minister recalled that he had warned earlier that unless the EU 'changed our pro-war position and started outlining and standing for an independent European stance, we would find ourselves exactly in the position that we are in now: the future of Europe is being settled without us.' The Hungarian authorities have long criticized the EU's approach to the Ukraine conflict as being incapable of ending the hostilities and damaging to the bloc's member states. Orban has urged EU leaders to align the bloc's stance with that of the Trump administration. He stressed that while the US is opting for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, the EU is pursuing a policy of more war.
The Independent
13-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Putin is laying the ground to win in Ukraine - regardless of US ceasefire plan
Ever the statesman, always the general, Vladimir Putin both welcomed and scorned the joint American-Ukrainian ceasefire plan brought to his capital by US diplomats on Thursday night - trying to keep officials guessing if he would accept it or not. As the politician, the president of the Russian Federation welcomed the proposal, stating that 'the idea in itself to stop this conflict in a peaceful way - that's something that we support'. But the military man who ordered his troops into Crimea in 2014, promised safety to trapped Ukrainian troops but massacred them in the Donbas that same year, and violated past ceasefires dozens of times, seems to want to have another go at annihilation. In a joint press conference with Belrusian president and close ally Alexander Lukashenko, he boasted of Russia's recent success in freeing Kursk from a Ukrainian incursion that has lasted since August last year, claiming that huge numbers of Kyiv 's forces were trapped there and complaining that a ceasefire now would be unfair. 'First of all, so what is happening with that area of incursion in Kursk?' he asked. 'If we stop our military action for 30 days, what does that mean? 'That means that all the people that are there, military people, Ukrainians that are there, will have the opportunity to leave without the fight. Will we let them go all these people who committed crimes, or they're going to surrender?' Many Ukrainians will recall the Iloviask massacre in August 2014 in Donetsk province, when Ukrainian troops were surrounded by Russian forces and offered a safe passage but tried to leave with their weapons. At least 366 were killed, and more than 150 went missing. A nervous looking Putin dressed in fatigues visited Kursk on Wednesday to review the Russian operation. While there, he said that any Ukrainian soldiers captured on Russian territory would not be treated as prisoners of war. 'All those in the... Kursk region [who] committed crimes against the civilian population, opposed our armed forces, law enforcement agencies and special services, are terrorists in accordance to the laws of the Russian Federation,' he is quoted as saying on the semi-official Tass news agency. Russian forces have a well earned reputation for murdering Ukrainians who have surrendered - just as they have for killing civilians in places like Bucha and Irpin, near Kyiv, at the start of their full scale invasion exactly three years ago. Ukrainian soldiers know they risk a similar fate if they fall into Russian hands. Putin went on to claim how, since Russia was doing so well on the other frontlines, it would be a huge concession to agree a ceasefire now. 'So how are they [ Ukraine ] going to use these 30 days? Are they going to use it in order to continue the forced mobilization in Ukraine, in order to supply weapons to those areas, in order to newly mobilize units to undergo training?' Certainly Ukraine will do that. But as the US suspended all military aid to Ukraine for several days and has proved an unreliable supplier of intelligence, it is Russia that will be best placed to use a 30 day pause to rearm and reorganise. Putin's claim of imminent encirclement of Ukrainian forces is overblown. He has been throwing untold numbers of men and material into battles for towns like Pokrovsk, Kupyansk, and even Kharkiv but his forces have only inched forwards over months. An opportunity to build up forces to try to land a killer blow would be welcomed by Moscow's forces. Ukraine has been forced in to agreeing to a ceasefire offer with terms that will be discussed further by Putin's team. He may even meet top level envoys from Trump himself, behind closed doors. He has laid out how, if he agreed to any kind of a ceasefire, it would be entirely as an act of statesman-like kindness in the context of a hard charging Russian advance. In Kursk that's what has been essentially achieved, largely thanks to the White House which blindsided Ukrainian troops with a blackout on their satellite and signal intelligence feeds that would have been vital for Ukrainians on the ground. Hundreds, probably thousands of Ukrainians have keen killed in Kursk after Trump's demonstration of passive aggression to a former ally in Kyiv. So far the only consequence of a Russian refusal to sign a ceasefire has been Trump's threat to hit Russia's economy. US trade with Moscow is a minuscule $3.5 billion a year. But if statesman-general Putin accepts a ceasefire then he can blame any breakdown on Ukraine, given that there are no independent sources of verification. He's only likely to do that when his troops are ready to deal a death blow to the Ukrainian troops he hopes to finally surround.
Russia Today
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukraine hasn't shown that it wants peace
Ukraine has not demonstrated that it wants peace with Russia, US President Donald Trump has said ahead of American-Ukrainian talks in Saudi Arabia. On Sunday, a reporter asked Trump aboard Air Force One if he would resume military aid if Ukraine signed a partnership on the development of its critical mineral deposits. 'I think they will sign the minerals deal. But I want them to want peace. Right now, they haven't shown it to the extent that they should,' Trump said. 'But I think they will be. I think it's going to be evident over the next two or three days. I think, eventually, we'll have peace,' the president added. Trump reiterated that his priority is to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine to save 'human lives' on the battlefield. He said that he expected a 'good result' from the planned US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia. Last week, Trump halted all weapons deliveries to Kiev and restricted intelligence sharing in hopes for persuading Ukraine to be more receptive to his mediation efforts. The president has said that he found it 'more difficult' to deal with Ukraine than with Russia, as Kiev has been trying to amend relations in the wake of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky's disastrous visit to the White House last month. The US had originally planned to sign the minerals deal on February 28. The ceremony was shelved, however, after Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance had a verbal spat in front of reporters in the Oval Office. Trump later accused Zelensky of behaving disrespectfully and being ungrateful for the military and financial aid the US has been providing since 2022. Zelensky described the meeting as 'regrettable' and expressed the desire to mend fences. Russia has stated that a lasting peace is impossible without addressing the root causes of the conflict, including NATO's expansion eastward. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine drop its aspirations to join the US-led alliance and become a neutral country with a restricted army. Russia also demanded that Ukraine renounce its claim on Crimea and four other regions that have voted to become part of Russia since 2014.
