Yuri Kobzar14:20, 28.03.25

Analysts do not rule out that the Americans are purposefully trying to ensure that Ukraine simply refuses to sign the document in its current form.

The new version of the agreement on Ukrainian minerals , submitted by the Americans, is essentially a “document on the expropriation” of Ukrainian resources. It also implies an obvious intention to block Kyiv’s progress towards EU membership and return Ukraine to the role of an unauthorized transit point for Russian gas and oil. This is what the British The Telegraph writes , analyzing the text of the document, which it was possible to familiarize itself with. 

Describing the essence of the new version of the agreement, the author of the publication believes that “Donald Trump put a gun to Volodymyr Zelensky’s head.” In fact, America is demanding huge reparations from Ukraine, which include half of Ukraine’s fossil resources and transport and industrial infrastructure.

“This is an expropriation document. There are no guarantees, no defense clauses, the US is not offering anything. The Americans can leave, the Ukrainians can’t. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Alan Riley, an energy law expert at the Atlantic Council.

The author of the publication concludes that with this agreement, Trump wants to turn Ukraine into a resource province for American industry. Moreover, the author sees a connection here with negotiations between the United States and Russia on a comprehensive energy partnership, which may include plans to restore West Siberian gas flows to Europe, the transportation of which the Americans want to earn money.

“The revived gas trade will pass through the Ukrainian network and later through the Baltic when the sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines are restored,” writes The Telegraph.

The text of the new version of the agreement, which journalists have reviewed, provides for the creation of a joint investment fund between Ukraine and the United States, in which the Americans will have the final say. The fund will control the development of almost all Ukrainian minerals, and the United States will receive all the profits from this activity until America earns $104 billion as compensation for military assistance provided to Ukraine. After that, the income will be divided 50:50 between the two countries.

At the same time, any new investment projects related to the development of Ukrainian subsoil or the construction of new infrastructure must first be submitted for consideration by this fund. Only if the fund rejects the project can it be offered to other investors.

“It’s incompatible with EU membership, and perhaps that’s part of the goal. I have to wonder if the real intention was to get Zelensky to reject it,” says analyst Alan Riley.

(C)UNIAN 2025