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US: Minerals deal will strengthen Trump's position in negotiations with Russia

Kyiv, Washington and other Ukrainian officials hailed the deal that gives the United States a preferential access to minerals in Ukraine as a major milestone. A top U.S. government official stated that this would give President Donald Trump a better basis to negotiate with Russia.

The Kremlin did not comment on the agreement reached Wednesday, but former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev claimed that Trump "broke the Kyiv regime", because Ukraine will have to pay U.S. military assistance with its mineral resources.

The agreement, signed in Washington, and heavily promoted Trump, creates a joint fund to invest in Ukraine's reconstruction, as he tries for a settlement of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The agreement gives the U.S. priority access to new Ukrainian mineral projects. The agreement is crucial to Ukraine's efforts in repairing its ties with White House that were strained after Trump assumed office in January. However, the Ukrainian parliament has yet to consider it.

In an interview with Fox Business Network, U.S. Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent said that the deal would show "Russian leadership" that there was no daylight between American and Ukrainian goals.

He said: "I think that this is an even stronger signal to the Russian leadership and gives President Trump a much better basis to negotiate with Russia."

His remarks seemed to send a message to Russia that Washington is still aligned to Kyiv, despite questions about its commitment to the ally after Trump's return brought U.S. diplomatic relations to a halt.

Senior Trump administration officials confirmed that three agreements were signed, including a framework agreement and two technical pacts. They said they expect the Ukrainian parliament to approve these within a week.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed his hope that the approval of parliament would not be delayed, even though some lawmakers expected it to last longer than a single week.

Zelenskiy, in a Telegram video, said that the agreement had changed in its preparation process. He praised what he called an "equal agreement" which created investment opportunities in Ukraine as well as modernisations of the industry and legal practices.

Both he and Bessent emphasized the importance of the talks Zelenskiy had with Trump in Rome on April 26, during Pope Francis' funeral.

Zelenskiy stated that "we have now achieved the first outcome of the Vatican Meeting, which is truly historic."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Syhiba stated that the deal was "an important landmark" in U.S.Ukrainian relationships aimed at enhancing Ukraine's security and economy.

U.S. FRUSTRATIONS

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv is highly dependent on U.S. supplies. It also claims that Moscow has increased its attacks against Ukraine after the U.S. intensified efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement.

Washington has expressed its frustration at the inability of Moscow and Kyiv, to reach an agreement on terms. Trump has also shown signs of dissatisfaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin because he has not moved faster toward peace.

Medvedev, a former senior Russian security official, claimed that Ukraine was forced to sign the agreement.

He wrote on Telegram that "Trump has broken Kyiv's regime to the extent where they will be forced to pay U.S. assistance with mineral resources." "Now (Ukrainians), they will have to buy military supplies using the wealth of a country that is disappearing."

Ukraine's international credit rose after the signing the mineral deal. Financial analysts claimed that the terms of the deal were better than what they originally expected.

Ukraine has a wealth of natural resources, including rare earths metals, which are used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles, as well as military applications. China dominates global rare-earth metal mining, and is currently locked in a tariff war with the U.S. following Trump's steep tariff increases.

Ukraine has also large reserves of iron and uranium.

The first deputy prime minister Yulia Shvyrydenko stated that Ukraine had no debt obligations towards the U.S. as a result of the agreement. However, the deal did not provide any concrete U.S. guarantees for Ukraine's security, which was one of Kyiv’s initial goals.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Denys shmyhal presented the deal to parliamentary factions in a closed-door meeting.

Some members of parliament claimed they hadn't seen the agreement text or been properly consult. Yaroslav Zeleznyak said that the parliament may not vote on the agreement until mid-May. Reporting by Doina Schiacu in Washington, Susan Heavey in New York, Anastasiia Mlenko in Kiev, Tom Balmforth in London, Karin Strohecker and Yuliia Dsya in Kyiv. Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Philippa and Gareth Jones.

(source: Reuters)