Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's economy minister and deputy prime minister, signed the agreement with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the joint exploitation of its energy and mineral resources, after months of tense negotiations.
The two countries have agreed to establish a reconstruction investment fund to spur Ukraine's economic recovery from its war with Russia.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it showed both sides were committed to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. For Kyiv, the deal is seen as essential to accessing US military aid.
Ukraine is believed to have vast reserves of critical minerals like graphite, titanium and lithium. They are highly sought after because of their use in renewable energy, military applications and industrial infrastructure.
Svyrydenko said the agreement "can provide success for both our countries" and "will attract global investment into our state" in highlighting its key points in a post on Facebook.
Svyrydenko said the investment fund will be filled with income exclusively from new licenses. This involves 50 percent of the funds from new licenses for critical materials and oil and gas projects, which will come into Ukraine's budget once the fund is established.
Beyond its monetary aspects, Ukraine also sees the agreement as key to ensuring its access to future US military aid.
"In addition to direct financial contributions, it may also provide NEW assistance -- for example air defense systems for Ukraine," she said on X.
Bessent called the establishment of United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund a historic economic partnership and credited US President Donald Trump with pushing for it to be signed as part of his efforts to seek an end to the war.
"As the President has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war,” Bessent said.
Trump has expressed frustration over the slow pace of progress in negotiations. The US State Department on April 29 tried again to get both sides to move more quickly and warned that Washington could step back from the talks if there's no progress.
The US is seeking access to more than 20 raw materials deemed strategically critical to its interests. Among them are deposits of titanium, which is used for making aircraft wings and other aerospace manufacturing, and uranium, which is used for nuclear power, medical equipment, and weapons. Ukraine also has deposits of lithium, graphite, and manganese, which are used in electric vehicle batteries.
Trump said the deal “in theory” means that the US will get more from Ukraine than it contributed.
“I wanted to be protected,” he said in an interview on NewsNation, adding that he didn’t want to be looking “foolish” by not getting money back for the investment.
Trump said earlier at a cabinet meeting that the American presence will "keep a lot of bad actors out of the country or certainly out of the area where we're doing the digging."
