By SUSIE BLANN and JUSTIN SPIKE
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A preliminary economic agreement between Ukraine and the United States would ensure long-term U.S. involvement in rebuilding the country, but the deal leaves the question of security guarantees sought by Kyiv to future negotiations.
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According to the final version of the deal obtained by The Associated Press, the United States and Ukraine will establish a co-owned and jointly managed investment fund aimed at financing the reconstruction of Ukraine and its war-damaged economy.
The agreement comes after two weeks of back-and-forth between Kyiv and Washington over how the U.S. could gain access to Ukraine’s natural resources. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted that specific assurances for Ukrainian security must accompany a deal on those resources.
U.S. President Donald Trump planned to meet with Zelenskyy on Friday at the White House to sign the pact, which will closely tie the two countries together for years to come.
Here’s more about what the agreement says, and what it doesn’t say.
What about security guarantees for Ukraine?
While the preliminary agreement references the importance of Ukraine’s security, it leaves that matter to a separate agreement to be discussed between the leaders of the two countries.
According to wording in the deal, the United States “supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace,” and the U.S. has “a long-term financial commitment to the development of a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.”
“Participants will seek to identify any necessary steps to protect mutual investments as defined in the Fund agreement,” it states. “The American people desire to invest alongside Ukraine in a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine.”
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said his country “needs to know first where the United States stands on its continued military support.” He said he expects to have a wide-ranging conversation with Trump during his visit to Washington.
The economic agreement “may be part of future security guarantees, but I want to understand the broader vision. What awaits Ukraine?” Zelenskyy said.
A senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told the AP on Wednesday that those discussions would take place independently from the establishment of the joint fund.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations, said Kyiv believes the establishment of the fund would itself serve to bolster Ukraine’s security since U.S. and Ukrainian investments would need to be protected amid continuing Russian attacks.
How does the agreement work?
Under the agreement, Ukraine will contribute 50% of future revenues to the joint fund from national assets including minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas and other extractable materials. Kyiv has hoped that access to those materials would incentivize the Trump administration to help secure a fair and lasting end to the war.
The idea to involve the U.S. in Ukraine’s natural resource wealth was initially proposed last fall by Zelenskyy as part of his plan to strengthen Kyiv’s hand in future negotiations with Moscow.
Ukraine would also contribute half of its revenues from infrastructure relevant to the extraction, processing or transportation of its natural resources, but those contributions would not apply to assets that are already part of the Ukrainian government’s budget revenue, such as state-owned oil and gas companies.
Contributions to the fund will be reinvested annually in Ukraine to promote its “safety, security and prosperity,” the agreement says.
Is Ukraine giving away its natural resources?
The agreement states that revenues from its natural resources will go into the fund and be used for reconstruction of the country, not that ownership or control of those resources would be transferred to the United States.
On Wednesday, a senior Ukrainian official told the AP that the U.S. will not own Ukraine’s mineral and other resources. The official added that the fund would receive 50% of the revenues that come from natural resource deposits once they’re developed.
Is Ukraine paying off a debt for previous U.S. support?
The deal does away with earlier Trump demands that Ukraine pay $500 billion as compensation for Washington’s assistance until now. The senior Ukrainian official said that contributions to the fund do not constitute a repayment of any debt to the U.S. for its previous support during the war with Russia, but an investment in the future.
The agreement states that the U.S. will maintain a long-term financial commitment to Ukraine’s stability and economic prosperity, and could make further contributions outside the fund in the form of financial instruments and other assets critical for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Ukrainian payments into the fund could provide a mechanism for any future U.S. assistance to be recouped in the long term, the Ukrainian official said.
“We are not debtors,” Zelenskyy said Wednesday, adding that, while he is grateful for previous U.S. support, Ukraine had not entered into any agreements that would require previous U.S. assistance to be repaid.
“There were no such agreements in the past, so there is nothing to discuss in this regard,” he said.
The agreement will also seek to avoid conflict with any obligations Ukraine has to the European Union as it seeks membership in the bloc, or any potential conflicts with obligations to other financial institutions or creditors.
Associated Press writers Hanna Arhirova and Vasilisa Stepanenko contributed to this report.
