Technical talks between Ukraine and the United States on a subsoil agreement start in Washington on 11 April

Mining operations. Photo: Associated Pres

Technical consultations on the minerals agreement between Ukraine and the United States with the participation of representatives of the Ministries of Justice and Economy will be held on Friday, 11 April in Washington.

This was reported by the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Minister of Justice Olha Stefanishyna, according to «Evropeiska Pravda».

«I can't disclose details yet, as the meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, but afterwards I will be able to comment», Stefanishyna said at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday.

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She emphasised that any provisions of the agreement would not contradict Ukraine's existing commitments, including financial commitments under the Ukraine Facility, macro-financial assistance and cooperation with the IMF.

According to her, the new draft agreement proposed by the United States provides for the accumulation of resources for reinvestment in Ukraine. Stefanishyna noted that the team will work to make the text of the agreement more balanced and easy to understand.

As a reminder, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has allocated 113 million hryvnias from the state budget reserve fund for consulting services to prepare a draft agreement on cooperation with the US in the field of fossil fuels.

As a reminder, the framework agreement was not signed in February due to a dispute between the US and Ukrainian presidents, and the new project, which includes gas, oil, and strategically important minerals, has drawn criticism in Ukraine.

Ukraine-US minerals agreement

Earlier, Donald Trump said that he would like to conclude a deal under which Ukraine would supply the US with rare earth minerals needed for electronics production in exchange for US aid.

However, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticised Donald Trump's proposal to provide Ukraine with military assistance in exchange for its minerals.

Subsequently, US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine had agreed to provide Washington with access to rare earth minerals worth $500 billion.

It should be noted, however, that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to sign the agreement on granting the US access to rare earth minerals. The White House called this decision «short-sighted».

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the United States might consider investing in mining on the Black Sea shelf, which is currently under Russian occupation.

US National Security Advisor Mike Volz called on Kyiv «to tone it down» and sign the mining agreement that President Zelenskyy had previously rejected.

Subsequently, the US President Donald Trump's administration sent Ukraine an updated version of the mining agreement, which took into account some of Kyiv's comments. The new draft US minerals agreement provides for the distribution of revenues from resources in the liberated territories of Ukraine.