The pen was already in hand. However, the raw material agreement encountered further obstacles

The Financial Times portal said on Wednesday that in terms of signing a natural resource agreement between the USA and Ukraine, obstacles appeared at the last minute. The Ukrainian Minister of Economy Julia Swyrydenko went to Washington to sign the document.

“The problems arose when the Swyrydenko plane was heading to Washington,” FT said. According to the British journal, the associates of the US Minister Scott Bessenta “told her that she should +be ready to sign all agreements or return home +”. The daily cites three people familiar with the case.

Two representatives of Ukraine said “FT” that the American side wants Kiev to sign both the raw materials agreement and a detailed fund agreement, called the investment fund of the reconstruction. The portal quoted the source “familiar with the reasoning” of the American party, which said that the negotiations did not end, because Ukraine wanted to return to the formulations agreed over the weekend. According to this source, US representatives were worried that this could weaken transparency and reporting.

However, the agreement can still be signed on Wednesday, if Ukraine restored the original provisions, “FT” said.

The daily stipulates that, according to the Ukrainian side, it cannot sign both documents on Wednesday, because – as she argues – the agreement on natural resources must be ratified by parliament before a document about the fund is signed.

One of the representatives of Ukraine involved in the conversations confirmed that Swyrydenko is ready to sign an agreement about raw materials on Wednesday, but the chances of this are slightly greater than 50 out of 50.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Szmyhal said on Wednesday that he hopes that the agreement about the raw materials “will be signed” in the next 24 hours “.

According to the Bloomberg agency earlier, citing sources, the draft agreement between the USA and Ukraine provides for the creation of a common Ukrainian-American fund for investment project management in Ukraine. The source of Bloomberg reported that two other technical agreements that determine the functioning of a common fund have not yet been finalized. (PAP)

AWL/ AP/