Updated April 30, 2025 at 6:48 PM EDT
KYIV — The United States and Ukraine have signed a comprehensive deal to jointly invest in Ukraine's minerals, raw materials and natural resources that would offer Ukraine some level of long-term U.S. support.
The agreement was announced Wednesday by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
"Thanks to President Trump's tireless efforts to secure a lasting peace, I am glad to announce the signing of today's historic economic partnership agreement between the United States and Ukraine establishing the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund," Bessent said in a statement. "As the President has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war."
Speaking to Ukraine's ICTV network ahead of the announcement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the country's lead negotiator for the deal — Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko — was heading to Washington to sign the deal alongside Bessent.
Shmyhal said the investment fund would be a 50-50 partnership with the U.S. and would assist Ukraine's reconstruction and development.
"This is a very good partnership agreement that provides for huge benefits and investments for our country, and provides for the possibility of receiving military assistance from the United States," Shmyhal said.
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"The American side can also count new, I repeat, new military aid to Ukraine as a contribution to this fund," he added.
President Trump said it would be a good deal for both Ukraine and the U.S.
He noted that Ukraine has large deposits of rare earth metals, which are key ingredients in batteries and other technologies. "We made a deal where our money is secure, where we can start digging and doing what we have to do. It's also good for them, because you'll have an American presence at the site," Trump said. That presence, he said, "will keep a lot of bad actors out of the country, or certainly out of the area where we're doing the digging."
Bessent said the agreement sends a signal to Russia "that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term."
He continued: "President Trump envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides' commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. 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."
The signing marks a victory for the Ukrainians after a series of twists and turns in negotiating with the U.S. In February, the Trump administration had pressed Zelenskyy to sign an agreement that gave Ukraine very little and would have used profits to recoup aid the U.S. has already approved for the country.
Zelenskyy refused to sign that agreement. On Feb. 28, President Trump and Vice President Vance publicly berated Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, leaving the deal in limbo.
But both leaders had an opportunity to talk face to face when they attended Pope Francis' funeral in Rome on Saturday. Zelenskyy described it as a "good meeting" in a social media post. White House communications director Steven Cheung told reporters that both leaders "had a very productive discussion" and said more details about the meeting would follow.
With the deal now signed, it must next be approved by Ukraine's parliament.
NPR's Hanna Palamarenko contributed to this report from Kyiv.
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