The U.S. and Ukraine signed a rare minerals agreement last week in a major win for the Trump Administration.

“US and Ukraine sign natural resources deal,” reported Christopher Miller and James Politi for Financial Times on April 30, 2025. “The US and Ukraine signed an ‘economic partnership’ deal on Wednesday that will give Washington access to the country’s critical minerals and natural resources, ending weeks of fraught negotiations.”

“The agreement signed at the US Treasury department will establish a ‘reconstruction investment fund’ for Ukraine that President Donald Trump had insisted on as a way to repay America for aid to Kyiv,” they added. “The new deal does not include a previous US demand for retroactive compensation for more than $100bn in military support for Ukraine, terms that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had consistently refused to accept.”

“The Ukrainians also succeeded in removing language from the deal that would have complicated negotiations with the EU,” the authors continued. “However, they conceded to Washington’s demand that they sign up to more detailed commitments Kyiv had initially insisted were impossible to agree to simultaneously. While Washington has argued that the deal is necessary for any continued US support, it does not include explicit security guarantees, and Ukraine will be beholden to it regardless of whether a peace deal is secured with Russia.”

“However, any future US military assistance, such as contributions to Ukraine’s air defences, will be qualified as investment under the terms of the deal,” they added.

What the deal might mean for the future of the United States — Ukraine relationship is unknown. Progress on this deal is undoubtedly a win for President Donald Trump, however.

“Reports say the Ukraine minerals deal is set to be signed in 24 hours or so,” a reporter asked President Trump on April 30, 2025. “Is it true the Ukraine minerals deal is about to be signed in the next 24 hours or so? There is a report saying that, and if it is true, has the deal changed since the last time you heard about it?”

“I will let Scott answer because he is responsible for it,” Trump answered.

“Our side is ready to sign,” Scott Bessent put in. “The Ukrainians decided to make last-minute changes, and we are sure they will reconsider that. We are ready to sign this afternoon if they are. Nothing has been removed, but it’s the same agreement as on the weekend, no changes on our side.”

President Trump offered the press some clarity regarding his thinking on Ukraine.

“To put it in perspective, when I came here, how much money have we given to Ukraine?” President Trump said. “The real number is about $350 billion. That is unthinkable! And we had no security. We had nothing. We were just pouring money, and they had unsecured money, putting it in banks, and anyone could have taken it out. Everybody over there, it was their decision, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Europe — that situation is much more important to Europe because we have an ocean in between, but Europe gave $100 billion,” Trump added. “That is a lot of money and a lot of sacrifice they have made also, but they gave much less than we did. And the money was totally secured — deposits in banks, deposits largely Russian. They gave $100 billion secured, and we gave money like throwing it out the window.”

“It was done by Biden, and this is Biden’s war, not Trump’s war,” Mr. Trump declared. “I’m trying to get out. And more than money, they are losing 5,000 young Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, mostly, and some people are also being killed in towns where missiles should not have been shot — small cities and towns. But we are trying to save the lives of about 5,000 young, mostly soldiers, that are losing their lives every week. I see satellite photos, probably from one [Elon Musk’s] satellites, come to think of it, but I see satellite photos every week of arms and heads and legs scattered all over the place. It is a violent, violent, horrible situation. More important than the money, I want to save the lives of people from other countries that are dying so stupidly and so needlessly. They are dying. I said, what are we doing? How did we get into this war? It would have never happened if I were president. It didn’t happen for four years, and it wasn’t thought of.”

“I discussed it with President Putin a lot, and there was no way he was going to do anything — zero chance!” Trump told the press. “And I said, you know, we feel foolish and totally unsecured. They get their money back. We are putting in much more money and have absolutely nothing. I didn’t want to make a complicated deal or a deal that could not be made, because Ukraine does not have very much money. They are going through a very bad period of time, and it has been brutal.”

“But I felt very foolish, and I said, well, we want something for our efforts beyond what you would think would be acceptable,” he added. “We said rare earth, they have very good rare earth minerals, as you know, we are looking for rare earth all the time. Rare earth is called rare for a reason. And we have a lot. When we made a deal where our money is secure, where we can start digging and doing what we have to do.”

“But it’s also good for them because you have an American presence at the site,” Trump explained. “And the American presence will keep a lot of bad actors out of the country, or certainly out of the area where we are doing the digging. So we made a deal, and I assume they will honor the deal. I put Scott in charge. Scott said it beautifully, but we haven’t really received the fruits of that deal yet. I suspect we will.”

President Trump’s words proved prophetic — the agreement was signed shortly after the press conference during which he made the remarks.

Though many media outlets are loath to give President Donald Trump proper credit — for anything — some are reluctantly admitting that the minerals deal is a positive sign.

“US, Ukraine minerals deal: A tactical win, not a turning point,” grumped Anatol Lieven for Responsible Statecraft on May 1, 2025. “The agreement won’t end the war, but it ensures continued US commitment — and sends a signal to Moscow.”

“The U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement is not a diplomatic breakthrough and will not end the war, but it is a significant success for Ukraine, both in the short term and — if it is ever in fact implemented — in the longer term,” Lieven admitted.

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)