The United States’ proposed mineral deal with Ukraine is linked to plans to restore the flow of Russian gas to Europe, according to a media report.
A new version of the U.S.-Ukraine agreement, widely reported on Thursday, could grant Washington sweeping control over key Ukrainian resources while offering no security guarantees to Kyiv.
Kyiv said on Friday that the agreement has not yet been finalized and that consultations on the draft are still ongoing.
Negotiations over the war-torn country’s mineral wealth are unfolding alongside separate discussions between the U.S. and Russia about a comprehensive energy partnership, the London-based Telegraph newspaper reported.
The talks reportedly involve plans to revive large-scale gas exports from West Siberia to Europe, with U.S. companies and financiers aligned with American President Donald Trump set to gain a major stake in the trade.
The restored gas trade would initially flow through Ukraine’s pipeline network and later via the Baltic Sea, as efforts to repair the sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines advance, the report said. The pipelines, which previously carried gas from Russia to Germany, were destroyed in an apparent act of sabotage in late 2022.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, has confirmed ongoing discussions about gas exports, suggesting that Washington is pressuring Europe to resume purchases. Speaking to the state-controlled Channel One TV station, he said, “it would be interesting if the Americans put pressure on Europe to make them stop refusing our Russian gas.”
Kyiv said on Friday that the agreement has not yet been finalized and that consultations on the draft are still ongoing.
Negotiations over the war-torn country’s mineral wealth are unfolding alongside separate discussions between the U.S. and Russia about a comprehensive energy partnership, the London-based Telegraph newspaper reported.
The talks reportedly involve plans to revive large-scale gas exports from West Siberia to Europe, with U.S. companies and financiers aligned with American President Donald Trump set to gain a major stake in the trade.
The restored gas trade would initially flow through Ukraine’s pipeline network and later via the Baltic Sea, as efforts to repair the sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines advance, the report said. The pipelines, which previously carried gas from Russia to Germany, were destroyed in an apparent act of sabotage in late 2022.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, has confirmed ongoing discussions about gas exports, suggesting that Washington is pressuring Europe to resume purchases. Speaking to the state-controlled Channel One TV station, he said, “it would be interesting if the Americans put pressure on Europe to make them stop refusing our Russian gas.”
New minerals deal on table
The terms of the new agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine have caused controversy, with analysts saying it goes beyond what was on the table in a previous deal between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Efforts to finalize that deal collapsed after the two leaders’ disastrous meeting at the White House last month.
The new accords would give the U.S. power over Ukraine’s vast reserves of oil, natural gas and rare earth minerals through a Reconstruction Investment Fund, according to reports.
The fund would manage critical infrastructure and extractive industries, with three of its five board members appointed by Washington. Ukraine, in return, would receive debt relief, but all royalties from resource extraction would go to the U.S. until at least $100 billion in war-related debt is paid off.
Washington would also control infrastructure linked to natural resources and have a veto on sales to other countries, potentially blocking exports to China or Europe.
Alan Riley, an energy law expert at the Atlantic Council, called the deal an “expropriation document,” telling The Telegraph that “there are no guarantees, no defense clauses, the U.S. puts up nothing.”
He also warned that the deal could derail Ukraine’s potential accession to the EU.
On Friday, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelenskyy, told Reuters there was no finalized draft for now, adding: “Consultations are still happening at the level of the various ministries.”
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko told lawmakers that Kyiv would issue its position on the new draft only once there was consensus. Until then, public discussion would be harmful, she said.
The developments coincide with reports that European sanctions against Russia could weaken, as governments in Hungary and Slovakia signal their opposition to renewing restrictions set to expire in July.
The two countries, led by populist prime ministers Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico, are often accused of pursuing pro-Moscow policies, despite being members of both the EU and NATO.
Trump’s administration has moved to mend Washington’s fractured ties with the Kremlin, which plunged to their lowest following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
While it has launched separate peace talks with Kyiv and Moscow to negotiate an end to the war, many in Europe fear the settlement could tilt in favor of Russian President Vladimir Putin, potentially emboldening him to pursue further aggression in the region.
The new accords would give the U.S. power over Ukraine’s vast reserves of oil, natural gas and rare earth minerals through a Reconstruction Investment Fund, according to reports.
The fund would manage critical infrastructure and extractive industries, with three of its five board members appointed by Washington. Ukraine, in return, would receive debt relief, but all royalties from resource extraction would go to the U.S. until at least $100 billion in war-related debt is paid off.
Washington would also control infrastructure linked to natural resources and have a veto on sales to other countries, potentially blocking exports to China or Europe.
Alan Riley, an energy law expert at the Atlantic Council, called the deal an “expropriation document,” telling The Telegraph that “there are no guarantees, no defense clauses, the U.S. puts up nothing.”
He also warned that the deal could derail Ukraine’s potential accession to the EU.
On Friday, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelenskyy, told Reuters there was no finalized draft for now, adding: “Consultations are still happening at the level of the various ministries.”
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko told lawmakers that Kyiv would issue its position on the new draft only once there was consensus. Until then, public discussion would be harmful, she said.
EU populists oppose sanctions
The developments coincide with reports that European sanctions against Russia could weaken, as governments in Hungary and Slovakia signal their opposition to renewing restrictions set to expire in July.
The two countries, led by populist prime ministers Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico, are often accused of pursuing pro-Moscow policies, despite being members of both the EU and NATO.
Trump’s administration has moved to mend Washington’s fractured ties with the Kremlin, which plunged to their lowest following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
While it has launched separate peace talks with Kyiv and Moscow to negotiate an end to the war, many in Europe fear the settlement could tilt in favor of Russian President Vladimir Putin, potentially emboldening him to pursue further aggression in the region.
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