More than a month after Washington and Kyiv first haggled over a deal to grant the United States a major stake in Ukraine’s mineral, oil and gas development projects, the two sides are back to square one in the negotiations.
Washington has sent Kyiv a new proposal that restates the sweeping financial demands from an initial draft agreement rejected by Ukraine, and adds new ones that could burden the country’s finances for years. Several Ukrainian lawmakers suggested that Ukraine could not possibly accept such a deal and that new negotiations would be needed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in Paris on Thursday that the new proposal required “detailed study” and suggested that a final agreement was still far-off. But he also said he did not want “to leave the U.S. with the feeling that Ukraine is against it in general.”
“We support cooperation with the U.S.,” Mr. Zelensky said. “We don’t want to send any signals that could lead the U.S. to stop aid to Ukraine.”
It was a clear attempt to avoid angering the White House, as he did last month after rejecting earlier proposals, which partly led the United States to temporarily cut off aid to Ukraine.
What Echoes the Earlier Proposals?
The new proposal reverts to President Trump’s initial demand that Ukraine repay the United States for the billions Kyiv has received in military and financial aid since Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago, according to three current and former Ukrainian officials who reviewed the draft, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.
The new draft also echoes earlier versions by omitting any mention of security guarantees for Ukraine, a provision that Kyiv had long pressed for and managed to include in a draft last month but that Washington had long resisted.
As in earlier proposals, Ukraine would have to contribute half of its revenue from natural resource projects and related infrastructure such as ports and pipelines to a U.S.-controlled investment fund. Profit from the fund would be reinvested in Ukrainian natural resource projects, though the exact share of such profit remained unclear.
What’s New?
The new proposal is more specific about how profit would be shared: Washington would claim all profit from the fund until Kyiv repaid at least the equivalent of the U.S. aid received during the war plus 4 percent annual interest.
The United States also would retain a “right of first offer” on new projects and the power to veto sales of Ukrainian resources to third countries. And in the first year of the agreement, Ukraine would be prohibited from offering any investment projects to third parties with better financial or economic terms than those offered to the United States.
The new proposal also outlines specifics for the role of the International Development Finance Corporation, a U.S. government agency responsible for investing in companies and projects abroad. The agency would control the fund by nominating three board members, while Ukraine would have only two. The agency would also oversee each project where earnings from the fund are invested.
Why Is Trump Reviving Tougher Terms?
Mr. Trump has long been interested in Ukraine’s mineral resources — including lithium and titanium, crucial for manufacturing modern technologies — arguing that gaining access would be a way to “recoup” the aid the United States has given Ukraine.
After intense negotiations on a minerals deal, Ukraine last month managed to soften some of Washington’s toughest demands and reached an agreement that Kyiv considered more acceptable. But the deal collapsed after a disastrous Oval Office meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky.
Now, demands that Kyiv had previously succeeded in removing — that Washington retains control of the fund and that Ukraine repays past U.S. aid — have resurfaced in the latest proposal, which Mr. Zelensky said he received a few days ago. The security guarantees also disappeared.
The new proposal “effectively turns Ukraine into an American colony,” Roman Sheremeta, a Ukrainian economist and founding rector of the American University in Kyiv, wrote on X.
The new proposal was first reported on Thursday evening by American and British news outlets, including The Financial Times, which published the new 55-page draft. The three current and former Ukrainian officials confirmed the document’s authenticity.
What Happens Next?
Yaroslav Zhelezniak, an opposition Ukrainian lawmaker who obtained the new draft and revealed its main points in a video on Thursday, said he considered the new demands an opening bid for a new round of negotiations.
“I’m sure it will be updated,” he said in an interview Thursday afternoon, adding, “There is zero chance that it will be approved as it is now.”
Still, officials in Kyiv on Friday were cautious not to outright reject the new American demands, mindful that previous refusals had strained relations between the U.S. and Ukraine.
“It would be irresponsible to criticize this document because it is still being negotiated,” Oleksii Movchan, a member of Mr. Zelensky’s party and the deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic development, said by phone on Friday. “The goal is to continue negotiations and find a compromise.”
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