Zelensky and Trump have a phone conversation

8 May 22:48

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is having a phone conversation with his American counterpart Donald Trump. This was reported by the presidential press secretary Serhiy Nikiforov to Suspilne, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports

“President Zelensky is having a phone conversation with President Trump. We will report on the details following its results,” the official said.

Details of the talks have not yet been disclosed.

It should be noted that before that, Trump announced his conversation with Zelenskyy. This was his response to the ratification of the subsoil agreement by the Ukrainian parliament.

“We just signed an agreement with Ukraine on rare earth elements. It’s been fully ratified and approved by their legislative branches, and we appreciate that, and I’ll talk to the president a little bit later, a little bit later,” the US president said earlier.

Later, the President of Ukraine posted a statement on Telegram that the bill had been ratified.

Subsoil agreement: main provisions

Full ownership and control remain with Ukraine.

All resources on our territory and in our territorial waters belong to Ukraine. It is the Ukrainian state that determines where and what to extract. Subsoil remains in Ukrainian ownership – this is enshrined in the agreement.

Equal partnership.

The Fund is being created on a 50/50 basis. We will manage this Fund jointly with the United States. Neither party will have a majority vote, and this will reflect the equal partnership between Ukraine and the United States.

National property is protected.

The agreement does not change the privatization process or the management of state-owned companies – they will continue to belong to Ukraine. Companies such as Ukrnafta or Energoatom remain in state ownership.

No debts.

The agreement does not mention any debt obligations of Ukraine to the United States. Implementation of the agreement will allow both countries to increase their economic potential through equal cooperation and investment.

The agreement is in line with the Constitution and does not change Ukraine’s European integration course.

The document is in line with national legislation and does not contradict any of Ukraine’s international obligations. It is important that the agreement will signal to other global players that it is reliable to cooperate with Ukraine in the long term – for decades.

The Fund will be filled with revenues exclusively from NEW licenses.

We are talking about 50% of the funds from new licenses for projects in the field of critical materials and oil and gas that will go to the budget after the Fund is created. Revenues from projects already launched or budgeted revenues are not included in the Fund. The agreement refers to further strategic cooperation.

Legislative changes are only point changes.

Only amendments to the Budget Code are envisaged for the Fund to function. The Agreement itself must be ratified by the Verkhovna Rada.

The US will help attract additional investments and technologies

The Fund is supported by the U.S. government through the DFC agency, which will help us attract investment and technology from funds and companies in the U.S., the EU and other countries that support our fight against the Russian enemy. Technology transfer and development is an important component of the Agreement, as we need not only investment but also innovation.

The Agreement provides tax guarantees

The Fund’s income and contributions are not taxed in the United States or Ukraine to ensure that investments yield the greatest possible results.

How the Fund will work

The United States makes a contribution to the Fund. In addition to direct funds, they can contribute NEW assistance, such as air defense systems for Ukraine.

Ukraine contributes 50% of the state budget revenues from NEW royalties on NEW licenses for NEW fields. Ukraine can also make additional contributions beyond this basic one, if it deems it necessary. We are talking about cooperation for decades to come.

The Fund then invests in mining and oil and gas projects, as well as related infrastructure or processing. Ukraine and the United States will jointly determine the specific investment projects to which the funds will be allocated. Importantly, the Fund can invest exclusively in Ukraine.

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The minerals agreement covers 57 types of minerals

The agreement sets out a list of minerals whose extraction it covers.

The Minerals Agreement covers 57 types of minerals. Assets related to natural resources means areas, reserves and deposits on the territory of Ukraine of aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, cerium, cesium, chromium cobalt, copper, dysprosium, erbium, europium, fluorine, fluorspar, gadolinium, gallium, germanium, gold, graphite, hafnium, holmium, indium, iridium, lanthanum, lithium, lutetium, magnesium manganese, neodymium, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, potassium, praseodymium, rhodium, rubidium, ruthenium, samarium, scandium, tantalum, tellurium, terbium, thulium, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, and vanadium, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium, zinc, zirconium, oil, natural gas (including liquefied natural gas) and other minerals or hydrocarbons otherwise agreed upon by the principals.

It is also stipulated that in the event of new military assistance from the United States (including the transfer of weapons systems, ammunition, technology or training), the partner’s capital contribution will be considered increased by the estimated value of such military assistance.