{"id":65886,"date":"2025-05-01T14:27:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T14:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/65886\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T14:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T14:27:08","slug":"ukraine-expected-to-ratify-us-minerals-deal-lacking-security-guarantees-russia-ukraine-war-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/65886\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine expected to ratify US minerals deal lacking security guarantees | Russia-Ukraine war News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukraine\u2019s parliament is expected to ratify a controversial minerals deal<\/a> with the United States in a decisive step towards securing the latter\u2019s long-term commitment to the war-battered country amid stalled efforts to strike a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire.<\/p>\n

The deal<\/a>, signed by Kyiv and Washington on Wednesday, pushed by US President Donald Trump and after protracted negotiations, marks an inflection point of sorts in the war, granting the US priority access to Ukraine\u2019s critical minerals as a means of deterring future Russian aggression. However, it stops short of offering specific security guarantees and questions remain over accessing minerals<\/a> in areas under Russian control.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said on Thursday that the deal \u201cmarks an important milestone in Ukraine\u2013US strategic partnership aimed at strengthening Ukraine\u2019s economy and security\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re expecting it to be discussed and ratified by Ukraine\u2019s parliament later today,\u201d said Al Jazeera\u2019s Zein Basravi, reporting from Kyiv. \u201cThe overall thinking is that if the US buys into Ukraine economically, they\u2019ll buy into Ukrainian security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ukraine managed to obtain a series of last-minute concessions on the deal, which will see the establishment of a so-called Reconstruction Investment Fund, with Ukraine no longer forced to repay billions in previous US aid and retaining \u201cfull control over its subsoil, infrastructure and natural resources\u201d, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.<\/p>\n

Significantly, the US Treasury statement on the deal had referred to Russia\u2019s \u201cfull-scale invasion\u201d of Ukraine, indicating a shift from Washington\u2019s apparent tilt away from the country in favour of Russia. However, the draft does not provide the concrete security guarantees Ukraine was seeking, according to the Reuters news agency, which saw a copy.<\/p>\n

Questions remain over how the US will tap resources located on the territory now controlled by Russian forces. About 40 percent of Ukraine\u2019s metal resources are now under Russian occupation, according to estimates by Ukrainian think tanks We Build Ukraine and the National Institute of Strategic Studies, citing data up to the first half of 2024.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko told Al Jazeera that the deal was \u201ca step in a positive direction\u201d in terms of cooperation with the US.<\/p>\n

Asked whether Ukraine was relinquishing control over its economic future by giving the US rights to its lucrative minerals, Goncharuk said: \u201cI don\u2019t see these risks, but I will be very cautious and will watch closely \u2026 the document before voting for it in Parliament\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Diplomatic win\u2019<\/p>\n

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia\u2019s Security Council, mocked the deal on Thursday. \u201cTrump has broken the Kyiv regime to the point where they will have to pay for US aid with mineral resources,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow they (Ukrainians) will have to pay for military supplies with the national wealth of a disappearing country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Goncharenko told Al Jazeera that Medvedev statement represented \u201cmore and more lies from Russia\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clearly said that \u2026 there is no debt for Ukraine, so we are not owing something to the United States for the moment,\u201d he said, insisting that the deal regarded \u201cnew packages\u201d. \u201cIf the United States sends us more weapons then it will be part of this deal so then we will return this money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to US network NewsNation on Wednesday, Trump had said that the deal would ensure the US didn\u2019t look \u201cfoolish\u201d as it would get a return on its investment in the country. Asked whether the deal would \u201cinhibit\u201d Putin, Trump said, \u201cWell, it could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia Programme at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Al Jazeera that the deal was a \u201cdiplomatic win\u201d for Ukraine amid Trump\u2019s efforts to mediate a peace deal, which recently saw him threaten to walk out if a deal is not done soon, expressing fears that Putin was \u201cjust tapping me along\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it will probably ensure or certainly [what] Kyiv hopes it will ensure is that, if the present round of peace negotiations fails and Trump, as threatened, walks away, he will blame Russia, not Ukraine,\u201d said Lieven.<\/p>\n

Overall, he added, it also meant the US would \u201cfeel it has a stake in Ukraine and therefore will not simply forget about Ukraine\u201d. \u201cAnd although that\u2019s not a security guarantee, it certainly ought to be a deterrent to future Russian aggression,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Questioned on whether the US could be seen as a reliable mediator, Andrey Baklanov, of the Association of Russian Diplomats, told Al Jazeera that Russia was \u201ccautious\u201d.<\/p>\n

During Trump\u2019s first 100 days in power, marked on Wednesday, he said there had been \u201cno tangible results\u201d in terms of improving relations with Russia. As for the minerals deal, he said the agreement was not \u201ctimely\u201d since \u201cthe destiny of what we call now Ukraine is quite weak\u201d.<\/p>\n

Goncharenko urged the US to apply more pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin to reach a ceasefire deal. \u201cIt\u2019s time for President Trump to use not a carrot, but a stick,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia is afraid of two countries in the world, China and the United States,\u201d he said. \u201cThe United States is the country \u2026 [that] can leverage Putin, [that] can put pressure on him \u2013 and a lot of pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

War grinds on<\/p>\n

As Ukrainian politicians scrutinise the deal, the daily grind of the war showed no sign of letting up, with Ukraine and Russia launching drone attacks on each other.<\/p>\n

Russian drones attacked Ukraine\u2019s Black Sea port city of Odesa early on Thursday, killing two people and injuring 15 more, emergency services said.<\/p>\n

Earlier, an overnight Russian drone attack on Ukraine\u2019s second-largest city of Kharkiv wounded at least 45 civilians, Ukrainian officials said.<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, Ukrainian drones hit a busy market in Oleshky in a Russian-controlled part of the fiercely contested Kherson region in southern Ukraine, killing at least seven people and injuring 20, according to Russian-installed governor Vladimir Saldo.<\/p>\n

Later, the Ukrainian military confirmed an attack in Kherson, but said it targeted Russian troops, and that the strike killed only military personal and not civilians.<\/p>\n

Putin has announced a three-day ceasefire<\/a> for May 8-10, when Russia will hold celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, one of the most sacrosanct holidays on the Russian calendar.<\/p>\n

However, Kyiv has been holding out for an immediate unconditional ceasefire for at least 30 days<\/a>. Putin has said many issues need to be clarified before that can happen.<\/p>\n

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