Event dated 2025-02-25

Ukraine said it had reached an agreement with the United States on a minerals deal, a step that could reshape the economic side of the two countries’ wartime relationship. The Kyiv Independent reported that Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister, said the deal had been reached, with President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office later confirming that view.

The arrangement was important because it came after a period of visible tension between Kyiv and Washington over the terms of the agreement. According to the report, the final version created a fund into which Ukraine would contribute 50% of the proceeds from the future monetization of state-owned mineral resources, including oil, gas and related logistics. The fund would then invest in projects inside Ukraine.

A major point in the negotiations was what would and would not be covered. The report said the deal excluded resources already contributing to Ukraine’s state budget, meaning it would not cover operations by Naftogaz and Ukrnafta, the country’s largest oil and gas producers. That detail suggests the deal was designed to focus on new or future revenue streams rather than the most established current operations.

Equally important was what the agreement did not include: security guarantees from the U.S. Kyiv had originally wanted such guarantees, but the reported final text omitted them. That left the deal as an economic and strategic arrangement rather than a direct defence commitment. In wartime diplomacy, that distinction can be decisive.

The report also said the revised draft had dropped an earlier U.S. demand for a $500 billion claim over Ukraine’s natural resources, which had been one of the biggest sticking points. The removal of that demand appears to have made the agreement more acceptable to Kyiv and may explain why Ukrainian officials framed the deal as more favourable than earlier versions.

The timing of the announcement made the diplomatic backdrop more visible. The report said Trump told reporters that Zelensky would visit the White House for a signing ceremony on 2025-02-28. It also quoted Trump as saying the agreement would help the U.S. recoup tens of billions of dollars and military equipment sent to Ukraine. That framing shows that Washington saw the deal as part of a broader political and financial bargain.

For Ukraine, the benefit appears to be twofold: greater access to U.S. political support and a framework for investing future resource earnings back into the country. For the U.S., the deal creates a way to tie postwar economic activity to the strategic relationship. The absence of security guarantees, however, means it stops short of the kind of protection Kyiv had sought.

The event date of 2025-02-25 places the agreement at a pivotal moment in the negotiations, just before the reported White House signing plan. That makes the announcement more than a procedural update; it marks the point at which a disputed deal appears to have crossed into final agreement.

The reporting supports a careful summary: Ukraine said it had reached a minerals deal with the U.S., the draft included a revenue-sharing fund, and the agreement did not provide the security guarantees Kyiv had wanted.