The Agreement discussed for long weeks between the United States and Ukraine ended up finding a conclusion on Wednesday, April 30. The Ukrainian Minister of Economy, Ioulia Svyrydenko, made the trip to Washington to sign the document, which provides for the creation of an investment fund, managed fairly by the two countries, and which will be fueled by the future exploitation of the resources of the Ukrainian subsoil.
A signature confirmed that night, and with strong words, by the American secretary to the Treasury, Scott Bessent, who mentioned “A clear signal sent to Russian leaders of the Trump administration’s commitment in a peace process centered on a free and sovereign Ukraine over the long term“. Words never heard in the mouth of the American president, and which confirms that the economic agreement constitutes a stone in the garden of Moscow.
Concretely, this large partnership provides for the establishment of an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine, and gives Americans access to the country’s natural resources, which concerns the exploitation of minerals but also gas and oil. The agreement only concerns future projects, kyiv having obtained to keep the income generated by existing deposits, and the choice of sites to be used. In addition, Ukraine will not pay financial repairs to the United States, which considerably relieves its finances when this contribution has long been at the heart of negotiations.
The agreement took time to materialize, and it should be noted that Americans and Ukrainians return from afar on this file, with the high point of tensions that marked the negotiations, this memorable scene from the oval office, at the end of February, when Volodymyr Zelensky, who came to discuss this agreement, had been tanceless in front of the world.
We will also recall that the Ukrainian president is at the origin of the project, which dates back to last fall. kyiv then was looking for a way to guarantee an American involvement over time, and Donald Trump had grabbed the idea, seeing the opportunity to “repay” billions spent to support Ukraine. Except that the American president had presented an exorbitant invoice to his counterpart, who refused to give in to blackmail, and “Badify riches” of his country. After annoying negotiations, the agreement concluded seems more balanced, and offers, at least on the front, a kind of insurance to both parties. For Washington, that of a potential return on investments, for kyiv, that of anchoring in marble, and in its basement, its relationship with the United States.
To put the scope of an agreement a little into perspective as a victory in Ukraine, it should be noted that part of its content remains very hypothetical. first of all because it only concerns future projects, long to get out of the ground, and whose potential is still uncertain. The richness of Ukrainian resources is not fully guaranteed, and the development of very expensive operating projects will be largely forced if the war continues. All this returns the first potential profits to a distant and uncertain horizon, when the White House is impatient in the face of patina peace negotiations.
Finally, an essential point, a vagueness persists on the military counterparts negotiated by kyiv, who insistently repeats that he needs the defense systems that his ally could provide. Donald Trump has never been publicly engaged in it lately, and his administration has remained very discreet on the subject on the sidelines of the signing of the agreement.
