(Reuters) – Ukraine has agreed that the past U.S. aid provided to Kyiv will not be part of a minerals deal it aims to sign with Washington, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Sunday. “Agreements have been reached that the document does not count assistance provided before its signing,” Shmyhal said in a Telegram […]
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Past US aid to Ukraine not included in minerals deal, Kyiv says
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(Reuters) – Ukraine has agreed that the past U.S. aid provided to Kyiv will not be part of a minerals deal it aims to sign with Washington, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Sunday.
“Agreements have been reached that the document does not count assistance provided before its signing,” Shmyhal said in a Telegram post.
Shmyhal, who was in the United States last week for the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, said that there was “a good progress” on the agreement after meeting U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“Most important – we have clearly defined our red lines, the agreement must comply with European obligations and not contradict the Constitution and legislation of Ukraine,” he said.
He added that legal teams were working on the document.
U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said on Sunday the deal “is going to get done.”
The two sides signed a memorandum on April 18 as an initial step towards clinching an agreement on developing mineral resources in Ukraine, a deal promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump that has proven elusive.
Although both had been poised to sign a deal for cooperation on natural resources in February, it was delayed after an angry encounter in the Oval Office between Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)