Terms of US-Ukraine minerals agreement worse than Germany’s postwar reparations – Telegraph
Pravda Ukraine
Donald Trump’s administration has presented Ukraine with the terms of an agreement on mineral resources in exchange for military assistance – terms that are usually imposed on aggressor states defeated in war. The conditions of this agreement far exceed those imposed on Germany and Japan after World War II.
Source: a draft agreement labeled Privileged and Confidential, dated 7 February 2025, obtained by the UK publication The Telegraph
Quote: “The terms of the contract that landed at Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office a week ago amount to the US economic colonisation of Ukraine, in legal perpetuity. It implies a burden of reparations that cannot possibly be achieved.”
Details: Following the document information, the US would receive 50% of revenues from resource extraction and 50% of the value of “all new licences issued to third parties” for the future monetisation of resources. Such revenues would be “seized” in favour of the US.
“That clause means ‘pay us first, and then feed your children’,” a source close to the talks told The Telegraph.
The agreement stipulates that “for all future licences, the US will have a right of first refusal for the purchase of exportable minerals”. Washington would enjoy sovereign immunity and gain nearly full control over a large portion of Ukraine’s raw materials economy.
A designated fund would “have the exclusive right to establish the method, selection criteria, terms and conditions” of all future licences and projects. “And so forth, in this vein,” the article stated.
Quote: “President Zelenskyy himself proposed the idea of giving the US a direct stake in Ukraine’s rare earth elements and critical minerals on a visit to Trump Tower in September, hoping to smooth the way for continued arms deliveries.
He probably did not expect to be confronted with terms normally imposed on aggressor states defeated in war. They are worse than the financial penalties imposed on Germany and Japan after their defeat in 1945.”
Details: In fact, the terms of this agreement significantly surpass those imposed on Germany under the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
For comparison: the reparations imposed on the Weimar Republic amounted to 132 billion gold marks (about US$269 billion in today’s equivalent) and were later reduced. The figure is US$500 billion in Ukraine’s case.
The agreement proposed by Trump does not include any financial assistance for Ukraine but only imposes restrictions and demands that could hinder the country’s economic development.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump stated that Ukraine “essentially agreed” to transfer US$500 billion.
“They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earths, in terms of oil and gas, in terms of other things,” he said.
Trump warned that Ukraine “would be handed to Putin on a plate” if it refused these conditions.
Quote: “Ukraine cannot possibly meet his US$500bn demand in any meaningful timeframe, leaving aside the larger matter of whether it is honourable to treat a victim nation in this fashion after it has held the battle line for the liberal democracies at enormous sacrifice for three years.
Trump’s demand is iron-fist coercion by a neo-imperial power against a weaker nation with its back to the wall.”
Background:
- On 17 February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is interested in signing an agreement with the United States regarding the use of natural minerals, but only after the agreement is revised to reflect the country’s key interests.
- According to media reports, the Trump administration proposed that Ukraine grant the US a 50% stake in the country’s rare-earth minerals, but Zelenskyy refused to sign the document. The White House called Zelenskyy’s decision “short-sighted”.
- On 13 February, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived in Kyiv to discuss economic cooperation with Ukraine. At that time, Zelenskyy announced that the US had presented Kyiv with the first draft of a “partnership agreement” which envisages investment in Ukraine’s mineral resources in exchange for further aid.
- On 14 February, a meeting between Zelenskyy and US Vice President JD Vance in Munich was postponed to give the US the opportunity to work on the partnership memorandum, which Ukraine had finalised and handed over to the Americans.
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