U.S. and Ukraine sign economic deal that includes terms for natural resources in the war-torn country

The White House announced Wednesday night that it signed an economic partnership with Ukraine that includes an agreement on the ownership and extraction of natural resources from the war-torn nation.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the agreement, established as the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, will allow the U.S. to “invest alongside Ukraine” to unlock its growth assets and ultimately accelerate its economic recovery.

“As the President has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war. This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Bessent said. “President Trump envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine.”

“To be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine,” he added.

Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s economy minister, provided more details on the minerals deal outlined in the agreement, first noting in a post on X that “it is the Ukrainian state that determines what and where to extract” and that “subsoil remains under Ukrainian ownership.”

Ukraine and the U.S. will jointly manage and maintain co-ownership of the investment fund, with neither side holding a dominant vote, Svyrydenko said. It will be financed by new Ukrainian oil, gas and critical mineral licenses, with 50% of all revenue from the licenses going toward the fund.

Svyrydenko indicated in her post that the U.S. will also contribute to the fund, through it is unclear exactly how much.