US-Ukraine deal on rare minerals: what we know so far

The Ukrainian government confirmed that it has agreed to the terms of a "preliminary" agreement that would give the United States access to its rare mineral deposits.

Kyiv hopes the deal, which would give Washington a financial stake in the European country's mining output, will prompt the White House to commit to protecting Ukraine if war with Russia resumes after a potential ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, will travel to Washington on Friday to sign the deal.

Trump said he and Zelensky "are going to sign an agreement, which will be a very big agreement" and suggested a ceasefire deal with Moscow is close.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the US security guarantees he has been asking for had not yet been agreed, but that he hoped the announced pact would be a starting point that "will lead to more agreements."

What are the terms of the deal?
Key details have not yet been made public, but on Wednesday Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal indicated that Ukraine and the United States had finalized a version of the agreement.

Speaking to Ukrainian television, Shmyhal said the preliminary agreement provides for the creation of an "investment fund" for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Kyiv and Washington will manage the fund on "equal terms," ​​the prime minister added.

He said Ukraine would contribute 50 percent of future revenues from state-owned mineral resources, oil and gas to the fund, and that the fund would then invest in projects in Ukraine itself.

The New York Times, citing a draft document, reported that the United States will own the maximum amount of the fund allowed under U.S. law, but not necessarily all of it.

The minerals deal was at the centre of a dispute between Trump and Zelensky last week, when the Ukrainian president rejected an initial request from Washington for $500 billion in revenue from the exploitation of rare minerals.

Local Ukrainian media say this demand has since been dropped.

"The provisions of the deal are much better for Ukraine now," a Ukrainian government source told the BBC.

On Tuesday, Trump said the US had given Ukraine between $300 billion and $350 billion in aid and that he wanted to "get that money back" through a deal.

But the Kiel Institute, a German think tank, estimates the US has sent $119 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Does the deal include security guarantees?
Zelensky has been pushing for a deal to include a firm US security guarantee.

But on Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader said no such guarantee had been made.

"I wanted to have a phrase about security guarantees for Ukraine, and it is important that it is there," he said.

Asked by the BBC if he would be willing to walk away from the deal if Trump did not offer the guarantees he wanted, Zelensky said: "I want to find a path to NATO or something similar."

"If we do not get security guarantees, we will not have a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing," he said.

Despite this, the Ukrainian prime minister said on Wednesday that the US supported "Ukraine's efforts to get security guarantees to build a lasting peace."

Shmyhal said Ukraine would not sign the pact until Zelensky and Trump "agree on security guarantees" and decide how to "link this preliminary agreement" to a US security guarantee.

Yuri Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's Ministry of Strategic Industries, told the BBC on Wednesday: "There is no point in signing any agreement on critical minerals if the Russians can invade again a month after signing the deal."

He said discussions on security guarantees needed to continue.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, who has been leading the negotiations, told the Financial Times that the deal was "part of a bigger picture."

The prospect of a minerals deal was first floated by Zelensky last year as a way to offer the United States a tangible reason to continue supporting Ukraine.

Trump indicated on Tuesday that Ukraine would get “the right to continue fighting” in exchange for access to its minerals.

He suggested that the United States would continue to supply equipment and ammunition to Ukraine “until we have an agreement with Russia.”

He also said that “some form of peacekeeping” would be necessary in Ukraine following any peace deal, in a way that would have to be “acceptable to everyone.”

Trump said on Monday that Russia was open to accepting European peacekeepers in Ukraine, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin would not consider this as an option.

What minerals does Ukraine have?
Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world’s “critical raw materials” are found in Ukraine.

This includes some 19 million tons of proven graphite reserves, which the Ukrainian government says makes the European nation “one of the top five countries” for supplying the mineral.

Graphite is used to make batteries for electric vehicles.

Ukraine also has significant deposits of titanium, lithium and rare earths, a group of 17 elements used to produce weapons, wind turbines, electronics and other products vital to the modern world.

How did Russia react?
Vladimir Putin has not yet reacted to the report that the US and Ukraine have reached an agreement.

But on Monday evening he told state television that he was ready to "offer" resources to US partners in joint projects, including mining in Russia's "new territories" - a reference to parts of eastern Ukraine that Russia has occupied since it launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.

Putin claimed that a potential US-Ukraine deal on rare minerals was not a cause for concern and that Russia "certainly has, and I want to stress this, much more such resources than Ukraine."

"As for the new territories, it's the same thing. We are ready to attract foreign partners to the so-called new territories, to our historical territories, which have returned to the Russian Federation," he added.