Kyiv says deal ‘operational’ in a few weeks, hopes it will revive flagging US support against Russian aggression.
Ukrainian legislators have unanimously voted to ratify a minerals deal with the United States in the hope of securing military assistance to deter future Russian aggression.
The country’s parliament gave its assent to the agreement, which grants the US priority access to Ukrainian minerals and sets up an investment fund for Ukraine’s reconstruction, with 338 members voting in favour and none against it.
Ukraine’s First Vice Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Thursday that the deal, which stops short of offering security guarantees but has raised hopes of revived US support, was “the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner”.
The Ukrainian Parliament has ratified the historic Economic Partnership Agreement between Ukraine and the United States.
This document is not merely a legal construct — it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner. pic.twitter.com/pIkMG1gUVu
— Yulia Svyrydenko (@Svyrydenko_Y) May 8, 2025
The deal, signed by the US and Ukraine at the end of April, was approved despite legislators’ concerns over a lack of detail regarding issues such as how the reconstruction fund will be governed and how contributions will be made.
In a news conference earlier that day, Svyrydenko had sought to assuage these concerns, indicating the deal would be operational in a few weeks.
“We have managed to ensure that the agreement is equitable. The key principle is that management is 50-50. Neither side has an advantage, there is no dictatorship from either side, and decisions are taken by consensus,” she said.
Svyrydenko underlined on X that the deal has no “debt provisions”, absolving Ukraine from earlier US demands that it cover the repayment of billions of dollars in military aid supplied by Washington since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Ukraine managed to obtain the concession despite getting off to a bad start in negotiations back in February, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed with US President Donald Trump during a testy Oval Office sit-down.
Kyiv was initially hoping the US would provide security guarantees to help deter future Russian attacks, in exchange for preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral resources.
But Washington refused, instead arguing that boosting its business interests in Ukraine would itself act as a bulwark against Russia.