As noted in the material, the parties were close to signing the document after Ukraine secured key concessions from the United States, including an agreement that military aid previously provided by Washington would not be counted in the framework of the deal.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced this on April 27. He also said that during a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, Ukraine's “red lines” regarding the agreement were clearly defined.
Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump insisted that the funds provided to Ukraine in military aid should be treated as a loan to be repaid under the mineral agreement.
According to the Financial Times, the breakthrough occurred after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Trump on April 26 at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, where both leaders attended the funeral of Pope Francis.
Trump said the meeting with Zelenskyy went well and added that he believes the Ukrainian president is interested in reaching a peace agreement.
“I see that he has become calmer. I think he understands the situation and wants to make a deal,” Trump said of Zelenskyy.
Agreement on Critical Mineral Resources Between Ukraine and the United States
Ukraine and the United States were set to sign a framework agreement on rare earth metals on February 28.
The agreement was intended to commit both countries to begin negotiations on a second, more detailed pact regulating the Ukraine Recovery Investment Fund — a bilateral structure where Ukraine would invest 50% of future revenue from new mineral developments. At the same time, the agreement would not affect the current revenues of Naftogaz and Ukrnafta.
The signing was canceled following a confrontation between Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump, and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance at the White House.
On March 27, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said the U.S. had handed Ukraine a new draft of the minerals agreement, dated March 23. The new draft allegedly provides U.S. access to all minerals across Ukraine, including current and future developments.
On March 31, it was reported that Ukraine and the U.S. discussed the new draft of the minerals agreement in detail for the first time. On the same day, Trump warned that if Zelenskyy chose to abandon the agreement, he would face “significant problems.”
On March 28, Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine had received the new draft, but pointed out that it contained "some things that the parties had already rejected."
The Financial Times reported that the U.S. version lacked security guarantees and expanded the list of natural resources Ukraine would need to transfer to the United States.
On April 4, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would be represented by a law firm in negotiations with the United States on the resource agreement.
On April 17, the governments of Ukraine and the U.S. signed a Memorandum of Economic Partnership.
On April 18, the Cabinet of Ministers published the full text of the Memorandum, along with an unofficial translation into Ukrainian. It stated that Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal would visit Washington and that negotiating teams should report on progress by April 26 to finalize the agreement on the creation of a reconstruction investment fund.
On April 19, Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Economy and Head of the Ukrainian Delegation, stated that the mineral negotiations between Ukraine and the U.S. did not involve discussions on Ukraine's debt to the U.S.
On April 22, Zelenskyy confirmed that legal work was ongoing on the mineral agreement but added that the signing date remains uncertain.