Key points
- Visit aimed at clinching a deal by April 26
- Premier Shmyhal to meet with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
- Boosting US business interests in Ukraine will help deter Russia: US officials
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will visit Washington next week for talks with top US officials aimed at clinching a long-fraught minerals and resources deal by April 26, according to a memorandum released on Friday.
According to AFP, Kyiv and Washington had planned to sign a deal on extracting Ukraine’s strategic minerals weeks ago, but a clash between presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in February temporarily derailed work on the agreement.
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Trump wants the deal — designed to give the US royalty payments on profits from Ukrainian mining of resources and rare minerals — as compensation for aid given to Ukraine by his predecessor, Joe Biden.
“Memorandum of intent”
According to a copy of a one-page “memorandum of intent” signed by both countries, the two sides “aim” to complete discussions by April 26 and sign the final agreement “as soon as possible”.
“Ukrainian Prime Minister (Denys) Shmyhal will visit Washington, DC the week of April 21, 2025, to meet with US Treasury Secretary (Scott) Bessent and lend high-level support to the conclusion of technical discussions,” the document, published by the Ukrainian government Friday, stated.
“Negotiating teams are expected to report on the progress by April 26, 2025, with the aim of completing discussions by that date and signing as soon as possible,” it added.
US business interests
US officials say boosting American business interests in Ukraine will help deter Russia from future aggression in the event of a ceasefire.
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Kyiv is pushing for concrete military and security guarantees as part of any deal to halt the three-year war, according to AFP.
According to the government of Ukraine’s website, Shmyhal, born in 1975 in Lviv has a PhD in Economics (2003). Before being appointed prime minister on March 04, 2020, he served as Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine.
