US to offer Ukraine security-for-resources fund sharing agreement
The US will this week offer Ukraine a bilateral agreement which would guarantee the security of the country in exchange for joint share of the country's resources through a "Reconstruction Investment Fund", according to a draft of the document seen by Euronews and a source familiar with the proposal.
The bilateral agreement and the associated fund agreement "will constitute integral elements of the architecture of bilateral and multilateral agreements, as well as concrete steps to establish lasting peace", according to the document.
The draft agreement states that the US will maintain 100% financial interest in the fund, and will co-manage it jointly with Ukraine "to advance the economic value associated with the resources of Ukraine, including but not limited to mineral resources, oil and gas resources, and infrastructure and ports, until the fund is fully funded."
The fund will operate during the period of defending reconstructing and returning Ukraine to its year end 2021 GDP figure, according to the draft.
50% of contribution from the revenues to the fund is expected by the government of Ukraine, minus operating expenses, but there is an uplift in the contribution to 66% in respect of any territory currently occupied by Russia which may be de-occupied.
Contributions to the fund by Ukraine would continue "until the contributions reach the sum of USD 500 billion" according to the document.
The fund agreement "will separately provide that the Government of Ukraine will additionally contribute to the fund a sum equal to twice the amount that the US provides to Ukraine after the date of the agreement", the document states.
"To that end the [US] intends to provide a long-term financial commitment to the development of a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine," the document states.
The draft document seen by Euronews is dated 21 February 2025, but the source said that it was intended that the document be approved this Wednesday (26 February), "with no variations".
Neither the Ukraine nor US government had replied to requests for comment on the draft agreement at the time of publication.
Tense relations
Relations between Ukraine and the US have chilled since re-elected US president Donald Trump began negotiations to end the war directly with Russian authorities, sidelining Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and referring to him as a ‘dictator’ last week.
Several European leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Stamer and outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, defended Zelenskyy, following Trump's comment.
Ukraine entered the fourth year of war on 24 February, the date marking the anniversary of the war's beginning in 2022.
The EU's support for the country remains high on leaders' agenda. On 6 March, the President of the European Council, António Costa, convened an extraordinary summit of EU heads of state to discuss developments in the country and the EU's defence efforts.
European leaders back Ukraine's Zelenskyy after Trump calls him a 'dictator'
Yesterday Donald Trump said Russia's leader Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers deployed to Ukraine as part of a potential deal to end the war.
Trump made the comments to reporters at the start of a meeting at the White House with French President Emmanuel Macron on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
