“We have clearly defined the red line,” the Ukrainian prime minister said after returning from Washington.
The proposed mineral trade between the US and Ukraine does not apply to past support for US support to Kiev, as Ukrainian Prime Minister Dennis Schmichal said.
“We have reached an agreement that the (US) support provided (to Ukraine) in a signature will not count,” Shmyhal wrote in an April 27 post on the Telegram messaging platform.
US President Donald Trump has promoted the deal as a way to recover some of the hundreds of billions of dollars that Washington gave Ukraine in the form of financial and military aid as Russia invaded the country in 2022.
Schmihal said the proposed mineral trade would not be retroactively applied to US support previously granted to Ukraine.
“We defined the red line clearly,” he wrote in Telegram. “The agreement must comply with European obligations that are consistent with Ukraine’s constitution and law.”
The legal team is still holding back terms of the contract, Schmihal said.
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The Ukrainian Prime Minister made his remarks shortly after returning from the United States, where he consulted with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent and officials from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Both sides were poised to sign a mineral contract in February, which was shelved after a fierce White House meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Voldy Mirzelensky.
Last month, the US administration proposed an alternative agreement that would grant privileged access to Ukraine’s mineral wealth if signed.
In mid-April, Washington and Kiev signed a memorandum as the first step towards closing the final agreement on the joint development of Ukraine mineral resources.
The memorandum, she said, helped to confirm “the constructive collaboration of our team and the intention to establish and conclude an agreement that is beneficial to both of us.”
The document, published by Kyiv, did not provide US access to Ukraine’s mineral resources or the amount of revenue the US has earned from the transaction.
“We’re still working on the details,” Bescent said at the time. “That’s something we agreed previously.”
It is still unclear when the contract will be signed, but US national security adviser Mike Waltz said on April 27 that the final contract “will be completed.”
US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance will meet Ukrainian President Voldimi Zelensky at the White House on February 28, 2025. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Trump: Very close to the trade
The US administration also views future mineral trade as a means of fostering peace between Kiev and Moscow by giving the United States a financial interest in the future of Ukraine.
Last month, spokesman for the US National Security Council, James Hewitt said that mineral trade will allow Kiev to “form lasting economic ties with the United States, the basis of long-term security and peace.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has been running a fierce diplomatic campaign aimed at ending more than three years of conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Most of the key points are agreed,” Trump said in a social media post.
Reuters contributed to this report.
