Ukraine seeks to amend a broad -economic agreement with the United States, by demanding guarantees of additional American investments, in light of increasing concerns about the loss of control over future investment in infrastructure and mineral resources, according to a report published by the American Bloomberg News.
According to the draft agreement, which was seen by Bloomberg News on March 29, 2025, Washington seeks to impose full control over future investments in Ukraine, including the sectors of mining, oil, gas and rare minerals, in addition to ports, roads and railways, without specifying any time frame for the end of this control.
Ukrainian concern about converting support into “debt”
According to a source who was informed of a diploma, Ukrainian officials held a video call on Friday with their American counterparts, including legal experts, in order to clarify some points in the draft agreement that extends to about 60 pages. The source confirmed that the Americans did not directly oppose Ukrainian reservations, indicating the possibility of acceptance of amendments by Washington.
One of the most controversial points is that the United States considers that the financial and military support provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian war in February 2022 is a “contribution” in the reconstruction fund, which will be subject to the US administration, which means Ukraine’s demand to pay this support.
Ukrainian President Folodimir Zellinski expressed explicitly his rejection of this proposal, and he said during a press conference in Kiev on Friday, “We are grateful for support, but these are not loans, and we will not allow this.” He stressed that Ukraine received a new version of the “Mineral Resources Agreement” that had previously stumbled, describing this version as “completely different from the previous framework, and includes provisions that we have previously rejected.”
Political differences and European fears
The original agreement collapsed last February, after an public argument between Zelinski and US President Donald Trump at the White House. According to reports published by the New York Times and the Venensal Times alongside Bloomberg, the Trump administration has increased its financial demands from Kiev, and stipulated that US military aid to grant Washington the right to access to rare Ukrainian minerals.
The new draft, according to Bloomberg, stipulates that the United States is entitled to obtain profits resulting from the investment addressed to the Reconstruction Fund.
This item, in addition to the absence of any security guarantees for Ukraine in the agreement, raises widespread concern in the Ukrainian political circles, especially among opposition deputies.
For her part, the first deputy of the Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Yulia Sfaidinko, called for the end of the “public discussions” about the agreement, warning that this may harm the progress of negotiations. “Ukraine wants to maintain a constructive dialogue with our American partners,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
It is worth noting that this controversy comes at a very sensitive time, after witnessing the previous talks between Zelinski, Trump and US Vice President J. Verse, sharp differences within the oval office that led to the collapse of the previous agreement, which was more mysterious than the current.
In a related context, a number of Ukrainian officials expressed their concern that some of the terms of the agreement may hinder Ukraine’s efforts to join the European Union, a goal stipulated in the Ukrainian constitution. President Zellinski reiterated that Kiev will not accept any agreement that would “undermine the course of its accession to the European Union.”
In light of these developments, Ukraine is expected to soon submit its final proposals to amend the agreement, seeking to find a balance between preserving its national sovereignty and ensuring the flow of vital American investments to rebuild its exhausted economy.
