Not $300 billion, but $100 billion: US eases requirements for subsoil deal
16 April 10:04
The United States has softened its demands for Ukraine to return the military aid it received three times during recent negotiations on a bilateral agreement. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi with reference to Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg, after a round of talks in Washington last week, the administration of US President Donald Trump significantly reduced its estimate of the total amount of aid provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. The initial amount of $300 billion was reduced to about $100 billion, which is close to Ukraine’s estimate of more than $90 billion.
According to the newspaper, the Trump administration continues to push for a deal that would allow the United States to receive a share of the profits from future Ukrainian investment projects, including mining and infrastructure development. Washington sees this as compensation for the multibillion-dollar military and other assistance provided to Ukraine under the Joe Biden administration.
According to the draft agreement, the newspaper reports, the United States would have the first right to profits that would go to a special investment fund under Washington’s control. The Ukrainian side, however, is seeking better terms and categorically refuses to recognize previous American aid as debt.
Official Kyiv refrains from commenting until the agreement is signed, Bloomberg notes. In turn, neither the White House nor the US Treasury Department responded to journalists’ requests for comment.
According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Ukraine sent its counterproposal over the weekend, and negotiations are actively continuing.
“We are very, very close… [an agreement] could be signed even this week,”
– he said on Monday.
According to Bloomberg sources familiar with the situation, talks between the two countries’ technical teams have been generally constructive, although the U.S. still sees the deal primarily as a mechanism to reimburse its costs. The Trump administration has also shown reluctance to commit to future investments in the joint fund, insisting instead that previous US military spending in support of Ukraine already count as an American contribution.
As the newspaper emphasizes, the situation for Kyiv is extremely delicate after the February conflict in the White House between Trump, Vice President Vance, and President Zelensky, which led to the cancellation of the previous agreement and the temporary suspension of US aid to Ukraine.
Additional tension is created by statements by Trump himself, who recently again accused Zelenskyy of responsibility for the war, as well as by the activities of Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who, after a five-hour meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg, publicly spoke of “the opportunity to change Russian-American relations through compelling commercial opportunities.”
An equally important factor in the negotiations, Bloomberg adds, is Ukraine’s aspiration for membership in the European Union. Any preferential conditions for the United States in the Ukrainian economy could potentially contradict the rules of the EU’s single market, so Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal recently outlined European integration as the “number one red line” in the context of the agreement under discussion.
According to the newspaper’s sources, the draft agreement presented by the US side provides for a set of concessions from Ukraine, including allowing the US to receive a share of potential revenues from Ukrainian oil and gas fields, rare earth mineral deposits, and seaport operations.
Читайте нас у Telegram: головні новини коротко
Draft agreement between Ukraine and the United States: what is known
In February 2025, the United States and Ukraine reached a preliminary agreement aimed at jointly developing and managing Ukraine’s mineral resources. The agreement, known as the Bilateral Agreement Establishing Conditions for the Reconstruction Investment Fund, provides for the establishment of a joint investment fund to rebuild Ukraine’s war-ravaged economy. The main objective of the fund is to attract and reinvest revenues from Ukraine’s substantial mineral wealth to contribute to its recovery and long-term stability.
Key provisions of the draft agreement
Establishment of the Reconstruction Investment Fund. According to the text of the draft agreement published by The Kyiv Independent, the fund will be jointly owned and managed by the governments of the United States and Ukraine. The ownership and financial interests of each party will be defined in a subsequent agreement on the fund. The fund will be managed by representatives of both governments, and more detailed terms will be set out in a subsequent agreement.
Ukraine’s contribution. Ukraine commits to allocate 50% of its future revenues from the monetization of its natural resources, including minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas and other extractive infrastructure, to the Reconstruction Investment Fund. These contributions will continue until the amount reaches USD 500 billion (as was the case in previous drafts). It is important to note that current sources of revenue that are already included in the general budget of Ukraine are not covered by this agreement.
The role of the United States. The U.S. government is committed to maintaining a long-term financial commitment aimed at developing a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine. This includes investments, financial instruments, and other tangible and intangible assets critical to Ukraine’s recovery. However, the agreement does not include specific security guarantees or continued arms transfers to Ukraine; these issues will be negotiated separately.
Provisions of the agreement as seen by MP Zheleznyak
MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said that he had seen the text of the agreement and was horrified by it.
The MP described in detail the key points of the draft that cause concern:
- Management by 5 people, 3 of them from the United States with full veto power.
- We are already talking about all minerals. That is, there is oil and gas, both new and existing.
- All over the territory of Ukraine.
- We are talking about production by both state and private companies.
- The money is converted immediately into foreign currency.
- The fund’s money is withdrawn abroad. If for some reason something is not received on our part, we pay extra.
- The U.S. contribution is the assistance we have already received since 2022. And they can make a profit at their own discretion. And they receive the first (and then Ukraine) 4% of the “royalties” from the Fund.
- The agreement is valid indefinitely. It can be changed or terminated only with the permission of the Americans.
- “First night” rights for all new infrastructure projects and the right to veto the sale of resources to other countries.
- Nothing about security guarantees. Not even a hint.
Yaroslav Zheleznyak, MP
Meanwhile, the government assures that the agreementdoes not provide for the transfer of subsoil use rights or any property rights.
According to Olha Stefanishyna, Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, the framework agreement between Ukraine and the United States is not an international treaty in the classical sense, but rather a political agreement that defines the intentions of the parties to create a joint Investment Recovery Fund.
