Mineral agreement finalized: Zelensky to meet Trump on February 28.

“We are doing very well with Russia. President of Ukraine Zelensky will arrive on Friday. This has now been confirmed, and we will be signing an agreement, and it will be a very large agreement (...) But most importantly, we will reach a deal with Russia and Ukraine to stop the killing of people,”
said Donald Trump.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal reported during a national telethon that Ukraine and the United States have effectively finalized the agreement between Kyiv and Washington regarding minerals. Ukrainian media have published a preliminary text of the agreement.

The “Bilateral Agreement on Establishing Rules and Conditions for the Reconstruction Investment Fund” consists of 11 points. Key highlights include:

• The governments of the United States and Ukraine are to create a Reconstruction Investment Fund “through shared ownership.” No participant in the fund will be able to sell or transfer their share without the written consent of the other party.
• The Ukrainian government will contribute 50% of all revenues received from the future monetization of natural resource assets owned by Ukraine. This includes mineral deposits, hydrocarbons, oil, and natural materials, as well as liquefied natural gas terminals and port infrastructure.
• The U.S. government, in turn, “will support long-term financial commitments to develop a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.”
• All these actions will aim to generate capital for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The document will not require ratification by the Verkhovna Rada; it must be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers before signing. Ukraine's main legal obligation is to initiate negotiations with the U.S. on a more detailed agreement that will regulate the activities of the Reconstruction Investment Fund.

The agreement published by Ukrainian media does not contain a direct U.S. obligation to provide security guarantees for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Denis Shmyhal stated during the same telethon that the agreement is directly related to security guarantees for Ukraine, and neither President Volodymyr Zelensky nor the Ukrainian Cabinet will consider it without this.

Donald Trump, however, stated that the United States will not provide significant security guarantees for Ukraine.

“I am not going to provide security guarantees beyond what exists. We will leave this to Europe because it’s their neighbor (...) Putin will have to make concessions in negotiations. We will try to help Ukraine regain some of its lost territories, but it’s difficult. Ukraine should forget about NATO. I think that NATO is what started all this,”

Trump said at a cabinet meeting.