Kyiv says it is “operating” in a few weeks and hopes to revive flagging US support for Russian invasions.
Ukrainian lawmakers voted unanimously to ratify the mineral trade with the United States in the hopes of securing military aid to stop future Russian attacks.
The country’s parliament has granted the US priority access to Ukrainian minerals, established an investment fund to reconstruct Ukraine, and agreed to an agreement that 338 members agreed and did not vote for it.
Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, Yulia Swillidenko, on Thursday, said the deal, which raised hopes of reviving US support, is “the basis of the foundation of a new model of interaction with key strategic partners.”
The Ukrainian Parliament has ratified the Historic Economic Partnership Agreement between Ukraine and the United States.
This document is not merely a legal structure, but the basis for a new model of interaction with key strategic partners. pic.twitter.com/pikmg1guvu
– Yulia Svyrydenko (@svyrydenko_y) May 8, 2025
The contract, signed by the US and Ukraine at the end of April, was approved despite lawmakers’ concerns over the lack of details on issues such as how the Reconstruction Fund will be governed and how contributions will be made.
At a press conference earlier that day, Svyrydenko tried to ease these concerns, indicating that the deal would be operating in a few weeks.
“We were able to ensure that the agreement is fair. The key principle is that the management team is 50-50. There is no advantage on either side, there is no dictatorship from either side, and decisions are made by consensus,” she said.
Svyrdenko stresses that the contract does not have a “debt clause” and demands that Ukraine from the US earlier be covering billions of dollars in military aid that Washington has provided since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine managed to get concessions despite a bad start in negotiations in February.
Kiev initially wanted to provide security assurances that would help the US stop future Russian attacks in exchange for preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral resources.
However, Washington refused, claiming instead that increasing business profits for Ukraine itself would serve as a breakwater against Russia.