Kyiv Publishes Full Text of Resource Deal Memorandum (2025)

Kyiv and Washington signed a memorandum of intent on Thursday to reach a final agreement on a long-discussed deal regarding the extraction of Ukraine’s strategic minerals and fossil fuels.

Ukraine’s Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said the document “paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.”

The Ukrainian government has released a copy of the signed paper that sheds light on the proposed deal and what has changed compared to previous iterations.

A memorandum of intent is not legally binding, and it merely provides a framework that recognizes both parties’ commitment to continue. In doing so, it provides a basic outline of the deal to come.

What can we glean from the memorandum?

The paper contains eight key elements and a conclusion – most of which are at least similar to past iterations leaked to the media.

However, the government noted in its Friday press release that an emphasis was placed on mentioning Ukraine’s EU bid, addressing Kyiv’s earlier concerns that the deal might jeopardize the economic freedom needed to join the EU.

“The document stipulates that the United States respects Ukraine’s commitments related to its accession to the EU or related to agreements with international financial institutions and other official creditors. This means that the work on the Agreement cannot cause conflicts for Ukraine’s European integration path,” the press release says.

The issue is also outlined in the executed memorandum.

“The United States respects Ukraine’s intention to avoid conflicts in the drafting of the agreement with Ukraine’s obligations under European Union accession or agreements with international financial institutions and other official creditors;” it states.

The document also outlines the concrete actions to move forward with the deal, namely that Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will visit Washington next week to finalize the terms.

“Without prejudice to any remaining political or legal procedures required to complete the arrangement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmyhal will visit Washington, DC the week of April 21, 2025, to meet with US Treasury Secretary Bessent and lend high-level support to the conclusion of technical discussions on the terms of an agreement establishing a reconstruction investment fund,” it states.

“Negotiating teams are expected to report on progress by April 26 2025, with the aim of completing discussions by that date and signing as soon as possible,” it adds.

Pathway to the minerals deal

The deal has gone through several iterations since the White House altercation in February when US President Donald Trump harangued President Volodymyr Zelensky in front of the media for alleged ingratitude.

Following Zelensky’s apparent frustration at being strong-armed to sign a deal on the spot, both sides have remained tight-lipped about details of the agreement ever since.

In recent weeks, a revised version of the agreement that allegedly contained overwhelmingly unfavorable terms for Kyiv was leaked, but Kyiv and Washington have ostensibly thrashed out the details and reached a compromise by signing the memorandum.

Assuming all goes well with Shmyhal’s upcoming trip to the US, then both parties would require parliamentary approval for the deal to come into effect.

Once the document is finalized, constitutionally it will still require ratification by Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, This is the same as the US Constitution would require Senate approval for such an agreement after being signed by the US president.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told AFP that a signed deal is targeted for April 26, as outlined in the document.