US Strikes Controversial Deal for Slice of Ukraine's Rich Resources.
After months of tense back-and-forth, the United States has signed a deal with Kyiv that grants it a share of future profits from Ukraine’s mineral and energy reserves. Pitched as an incentive to maintain American investment in Ukraine’s defense and post-war recovery, the agreement has already raised eyebrows for what critics see as opportunistic resource extraction under the guise of aid.
Ukraine is home to valuable deposits of critical minerals like lithium, titanium, and graphite—resources essential to powering green tech, defense systems, and modern infrastructure. But leveraging these assets in a time of existential crisis leaves a bitter aftertaste.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spun the deal in idealistic terms, calling it a commitment to “lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine,” and praising the deal’s potential to “unlock Ukraine's growth assets.” Meanwhile, a new US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund is being established to channel resources into rebuilding efforts.
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The fund is explicitly designed to reflect the “significant financial and material support” the US has already contributed since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Notably, the language of the deal is unusually strong for the Trump administration, explicitly condemning “Russia’s full scale invasion” and asserting that no one who “financed or supplied the Russian war machine” will benefit from Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who traveled to Washington to finalize the agreement, praised the partnership, saying it would attract global investors and include projects in minerals, oil, and gas. She emphasized that the resources would remain Ukrainian property and that the deal operates on a 50:50 partnership basis—though that framing may feel overly optimistic given Ukraine’s fragile position.
Perhaps most revealing is former President Donald Trump’s blunt explanation of the deal’s purpose. Speaking to NewsNation, Trump said, “So I went to them and said, ‘Look, we got to get rare earth.’ They have great rare earth... It’s a big asset that they have.” He added that the agreement would allow the US to “recuperate” the billions in aid provided and “much more in theory.”
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The deal was nearly derailed earlier this year, following heated disputes about transparency and governance. One US official criticized Kyiv’s attempts to revisit agreed-upon terms, noting that the delays stemmed from concerns over fund oversight and traceability.
Ironically, the breakthrough came just days after Trump and Zelensky met during Pope Francis' funeral in Vatican City. According to Trump, he pressured Zelensky to sign, telling him: “Russia is much bigger and much stronger. Russia is just chugging forward.”
Despite the lofty rhetoric, the reality feels more like a hard-nosed business deal than a gesture of solidarity. Ukraine, cornered by war and dependent on Western support, now finds itself offering access to its national treasures—minerals critical to its future—in exchange for security assistance it desperately needs.
It's difficult not to see this as a modern form of war-time resource extraction, with powerful allies leveraging a country’s crisis to lock in valuable assets. Whatever the stated intentions, the optics—and implications—are deeply unsettling.
