♦ The United States and Ukraine have signed an “economic partnership agreement” that will give Washington access to Kyiv’s mineral resources in exchange for establishing an investment fund in Ukraine.
♦ The deal giving the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals as a milestone.
♦ Ukraine holds some five percent of the world's mineral resources and rare earths, according to various estimates. Ukraine also has around 20 percent of the world's graphite, an essential material for electric batteries, according to France's Bureau of Geological and Mining Research, and is a
♦ major producer of manganese and titanium.
♦ Ukraine has agreed to the minerals deal as a way to secure long-term US investment, as Trump has drastically scaled back US security commitments around the world.
♦ The two countries will establish a joint Reconstruction Investment Fund, with each side having equal voting rights. The fund's profits will be invested exclusively in Ukraine, which will not be asked to pay back any "debt" for billions of dollars in US support since Russia's February 2022 invasion.