Washington has softened its demands on Ukraine regarding the return of aid after three years of full-scale war with Russia. Following negotiations that took place last week in the US capital, the administration of President Donald Trump lowered its estimate of aid from 300 billion to approximately 100 billion dollars, bringing this amount closer to Ukraine’s own estimates — over 90 billion dollars.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Conditions and Disputes Regarding Future Agreements
According to information from sources, the US administration insists on concluding an agreement that includes the distribution of profits from future Ukrainian investment projects, particularly in the oil and gas sector and infrastructure. Washington views this agreement as compensation for the military and other resources previously provided under the administration of Joe Biden. “The partnership agreement will grant the US the right of first demand on profits transferred to a special investment fund controlled by Washington,” reports indicate.
At the same time, Kyiv insists on better terms and refuses to recognize this aid as debt obligations. The Ukrainian government is currently refraining from commenting on the signing of the future agreement, and there have been no official statements on this matter from the US so far.
Threats and Prospects of the Agreement
On March 30, Donald Trump warned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is allegedly trying to withdraw from the agreement regarding minerals and emphasized that if such attempts are made, “big problems” await Zelensky. According to Bloomberg, Ukraine is expected to propose changes to the draft agreement, including increasing US investments.
On March 24, Trump stated that a signing of an agreement with Ukraine regarding natural resources is set to take place soon. Zelensky confirmed that the US is preparing a new draft agreement, which, according to him, represents “a significant deal.” The Financial Times and Bloomberg reported that the US insists on concluding a new contract that will cover all of the country’s natural resources — oil, gas, and energy infrastructure.
“In this agreement, the US does not offer Kyiv any security guarantees, which was also the case in the previous version.”
The agreement for the development of Ukraine’s critical mineral resources, scheduled for March, currently remains unfeasible due to a dispute between Trump and Zelensky that arose back in February at the White House.