The US will receive actions in the Ukraine's mineral fund in exchange for military aid. A new alliance model: Investments with geopolitical interest
The United States and Ukraine have officially launched a common investment fund, with a clear stake: Ukraine's mineral resources. In exchange for American military support, Washington will receive preferential actions in a fund that will manage an essential part of the wealth of the Ukrainian basement.
The American Treasury Secretary, Scott Besent and the Ukrainian prime minister, Iulia Sviridenko/ Photo:
The fund, called the US-UKraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, was officially announced in Washington, in the presence of American Treasury Secretary, Scott Besent, and Ukrainian prime minister, Iulia Sviridenko. The two officials welcomed a new model of partnership between Kiev and Washington – one that is no longer only military or symbolic, but deeply economical and, above all, conditional.
Military aid in exchange for resources
According to a detailed statement sent on Friday by the American Treasury, the US will receive “preferential actions” within the Fund for each military aid tranche offered to Ukraine. It is for the first time that the military relationship between the two countries is formally related to direct economic interests.
These actions will give the United States priority access to Ukraine's critical resources – a large package of 22 of the 34 minerals considered essential by the European Union, from lithium and cobalt to nickel, graphite or rare lands. The stake is huge: without these resources, the western industries of defense, green energy and technology cannot work in the long term.
“This fund will allow us to build the economic future of Ukraine on a solid basis: foreign investments and a responsible economic governance”Scott Bessent said. “It is an unprecedented opportunity for the US to contribute directly to the reconstruction of Ukraine and, at the same time, to benefit from its development.”
A partnership with multiple facets
The initiative is supported by President Donald Trump, who sees it as a double victory: securing a stable source of strategic minerals for the US and strengthening a bilateral relationship based on reciprocity. “Through this economic partnership we can make both great countries again,” it is stated in a statement distributed by close to the American leader.
On the other side, Kiev seems determined to show that he is prepared for American investments. The Ukrainian government has announced a complete reassessment of mining operating licenses and has already launched a public auction for an important lithium deposit in the Kirovograd region.
What remains Ukraine?
If for the USA, the partnership offers tangible benefits – partial control over an essential resources tank and an additional tool of geopolitical influence – for Ukraine raises complex questions.
In the short term, the fund offers capital, military support and a strategic safety net. But at the same time, the country seems to give up an important part of control over their own natural resources in a moment of maximum vulnerability.
In a geopolitical landscape in which the war does not seem to end soon, and economic reconstruction depends almost exclusively on Western support, Ukraine bets on a radical survival formula. One that could redefine not only the relationship with the US, but also the future model of external aid: not donations, but investments with geopolitical interest.
