Bloomberg: US reduces Ukraine aid calculation to $ 100 bn in minerals deal negotiation

During ongoing negotiations over an economic partnership between Ukraine and the United States, the Trump administration softened its demands for the return of aid provided to Kyiv during the three years of full-scale war with Russia, Bloomberg reported on 16 April.

Officials have lowered the figure from $300 billion to approximately $100 billion, bringing it more in line with Ukraine’s own calculation of over $90 billion.

“We are very, very close,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg News in Buenos Aires regarding the status of the negotiations. “It could even be signed as early as this week.”

The deal under discussion would grant the United States first claim on profits from a special reconstruction investment fund controlled by Washington.

American officials view this arrangement as compensation for the extensive military and financial assistance provided to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

On 11 April, Ukraine and the United States held productive technical negotiations in Washington over the mineral deal, according to Bloomberg.

Legal teams will continue remote work this week to finalize the draft as quickly as possible. Ukraine is expected to provide specific details on potential projects during the next online meeting.

On March 30, US President Donald Trump said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was trying to back out of a minerals agreement and warned that in such a case, he would face “big problems.”

According to Bloomberg, Ukraine proposed changes to the new draft minerals agreement, including a promise to increase US investments.

On 24 March, US President Donald Trump said that he expected an agreement with Ukraine on minerals to be signed soon. Later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the US was preparing a new draft agreement. According to him, the American side offered Kyiv “a big deal right away.”

The Financial Times and Bloomberg, which have seen the new draft agreement, reported that the United States was insisting on concluding a new agreement with Ukraine that would cover all natural resources, including oil and gas, as well as the country’s main energy assets.

According to the Financial Times, this agreement does not offer Kyiv any security guarantees. The previous version of the agreement also did not contain the security guarantees for Ukraine that President Zelenskyy had insisted on.

Prior to this in March, Ukraine and the US agreed to conclude an agreement on the development of Ukraine’s critical mineral resources. Attempts to sign the agreement failed on 28 February after a dispute between Trump and Zelenskyy at the White House.

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