Ukraine quietly “put the brakes on” minerals deal with the US

Kyiv has sent an unofficial signal to slow the implementation of the resource agreement with Washington — work on the document has effectively made no progress for several months.

This was reported by the Ukrainian outlet Strana, citing its own sources.

According to the publication, the order to “slow down” came from the Office of the President after relations between Zelensky and Trump had, in the assessment of sources, “finally soured.”

“After relations between Zelensky and Trump finally soured, the Office of the President gave the order to slow things down. Potential investors in the US have also hit pause, as they are uncertain about when the war will end,” the publication states.

The minerals agreement between the US and Ukraine was signed on May 1 of last year. The document provides for the creation of an investment fund for joint projects between the two countries in the extractive sector, including the development of Ukrainian oil, gas, and other resource deposits.

Previously, the American magazine The National Interest reported that the mineral resources the US had counted on under the deal had come under Russian control amid the ongoing advance of the Russian army. According to the magazine, Ukraine never took the resource deal seriously.

Prior to that, doubts had also been expressed in the US about the advisability of the concluded agreement.