US and Ukraine Sign Minerals Deal Memorandum: What To Know

Ukraine and U.S. have signed a "memorandum of intent" on a minerals deal, Kyiv said late on Thursday.

Why It Matters

It marks the first advancement towards a full agreement that was thrown into jeopardy by rounds of tense talks and the disastrous White House visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this year.

Ukrainian officials have worked hard to patch up relations with the Donald Trump administration as fresh drafts of the agreement, glimpsed over the past several weeks, repeatedly changed the shape of the deal.

What To Know

Ukraine's economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, said in a statement late Thursday that Kyiv and Washington had "taken a step" toward inking what Ukrainian officials have termed an economic partnership agreement on Ukrainian rare earth minerals, which fall under the broader umbrella of critical materials.

Svyrydenko said that the memorandum was an indicator of the "constructive joint work of our teams," adding that there was a commitment to seeing through a deal "that will be beneficial to both our nations."

Trump told reporters in the White House on Thursday that he believed a deal could be signed next week, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg this week a deal was "very, very close." Zelensky had referenced "good results" on the minerals deal on Wednesday.

Svyrydenko, who also serves as Ukraine's first deputy prime minister, said the final deal would include a new investment fund to finance Ukraine's reconstruction.

A document published by the Ukrainian government on Friday indicates Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will meet Bessent in Washington from Monday to push the agreement on the investment fund through to the final stages. Negotiating teams hope to finish talks by April 26 and sign the deal "as soon as possible," according to the document.

"The relevant agreement will open opportunities for significant investments, infrastructure modernization and a mutually beneficial partnership between Ukraine and the United States," the economy minister said.

The Trump administration has positioned the deal as compensation for tens of billions of dollars' worth of military aid the U.S. has sent to Ukraine after Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022. Kyiv has pushed back against this characterization.

Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the U.S. appeared to have rolled back its calls for Ukraine to pay Washington back for aid via the minerals deal.

A senior unnamed official with knowledge of the talks told the Agence France-Presse news agency that more recent drafts of the accord did not seem to frame U.S. military aid as a debt against Ukraine. Negotiations were moving ahead "quite fast," they said.

Ukraine is home to roughly 5 percent of the world's critical minerals, like titanium, lithium, uranium and copper. Ukraine is known to have deposits of 25 of the 34 raw materials identified as critical by the European Union, the bloc has said.

Critical minerals are used in many different industries, from defense to energy and technology.

China mines and exports many of the world's critical minerals, including rare earth deposits, and earlier this month slapped export restrictions on several rare earth elements after a series of tit-for-tat exchanges with the Trump administration on rising tariffs.

The move could have serious implications for the U.S.'s high tech and defense sectors. A single F-35 fighter jet requires more than 900 pounds of rare earth elements, the Pentagon said last year. Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to launch an investigation into "the national security risks posed by U.S. reliance on imported processed critical minerals and their derivative products."

Svyrydenko said in February that roughly $350 billion worth of Ukraine's critical minerals were now in Russian-held areas. Zelensky told Reuters earlier this year that Moscow controlled less than a fifth of Ukraine's mineral resources, including approximately half of its rare earth deposits.

Russia has seized control of around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine has tried to bake security guarantees into the economic deal as the U.S. forges ahead with ceasefire talks with Russia, which has refused to consent to a U.S. proposal for a 30-day full ceasefire. Kyiv agreed to the ceasefire conditions in March.

What People Are Saying

Zelensky said on Wednesday that the "basic legal aspects" of the economic partnership deal were "almost finalized," adding: "If everything moves just as swiftly and constructively, the deal will yield economic results for both our countries: Ukraine and the United States."

Svyrydenko said on Thursday: "There is a lot to do, but the current pace and significant progress give reason to expect that the document will be very beneficial for both countries."

What Happens Next

Svyrydenko said Ukrainian and American teams would work to firm up the final text of the agreement to be signed, before it is put before lawmakers.

Update 4/18/2025 at 5:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.