Ministries of Economy, Justice, Finance, Foreign Affairs involved in talks on minerals deal in USA this week – Svyrydenko
Ukraine will send a delegation to Washington this week to continue negotiations on concluding a strategic agreement with the United States on the distribution of critical natural resources, First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has said.
"The delegation will include representatives from the Ministries of Economy, Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Finance," she said on the X social network on Monday.
According to Svyrydenko, this dialogue reflects the strategic interests of both nations and our shared commitment to building a strong, transparent partnership.
"We aim to align on project selection, legal frameworks, and long-term investment mechanisms," the First Deputy Prime Minister said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on April 4 that a Ukrainian technical team would visit earlier this week to discuss the agreement, the published draft of which has been criticized in Ukraine as unequal and one that provides far more benefits to the U.S. side and may violate Ukrainian law.
Bessent said the minerals agreement proposed by the Unied States to Ukraine is beneficial to both countries, said he hopes to sign it in the near future, but suspects resistance from those who currently receive money from these resources. The U.S. Treasury Secretary added that the agreement was part of President Donald Trump's peace plan and is aimed at making the United States and Ukraine partners and bringing them closer.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on April 4 that the minerals agreement with the United States should be fair and partnership-based, and Ukraine will be represented in the negotiations by a law firm, the selection of which will be completed this week.
"We see only partnership steps in this agreement, and this is exactly what the team is working on. The team will briefly present this agreement to me, the most important things at the beginning of the week, and after that, in principle, the technical team will be ready for a trip to the United States and for a dialogue with our American partners. For now, we are counting on the trip of our technical team," the head of state said.