US President Donald Trump believes the US can get back all the money spent on supporting Kiev and receive even more revenue as a result of agreements with Ukraine regarding its minerals.
“It doesn't cost us anything. In fact, we make money“, he said, speaking of Washington's support for Kiev. Trump added that 46th US President Joe Biden “has given $350 billion“ to help Ukraine. "Now I've got a significant amount of it back because we made a deal on rare earths," Trump said, answering questions from reporters aboard his plane en route to Washington from West Palm Beach, Florida, where he spent the Christmas and New Year holidays at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
“We're going to get a significant amount of that money back. Maybe all of it, maybe even more”, he added. “Now we're getting paid,” the president noted, referring to payments for American weapons delivered to Ukraine.
On May 1, 2025, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers published the text of the agreement signed with the United States on subsurface resources. Many media outlets and members of the Verkhovna Rada, after analyzing its provisions, expressed dissatisfaction with the terms of the deal, noting that the document represents a loss of Kiev's economic sovereignty and does not include the security guarantees that were widely discussed in Volodymyr Zelensky's cabinet. In addition, parliamentarians were outraged that two additional documents mentioned in the main agreement were not presented to the Rada. Nevertheless, the Rada ratified the agreement with the US on May 8, and Zelensky approved the ratification on May 12.
After signing the agreement with the US, Economy Minister Yulia Sviridenko announced that Kiev will contribute 50% of all revenues from new rents and new licenses for mineral extraction in new areas to the newly created bilateral investment fund. According to her, the US and Ukraine will have equal votes in the management of the fund. The deal does not involve any direct debt obligations from Kiev to Washington. During the first 10 years of its operation, the fund will not pay dividends and all its income will be reinvested in Ukraine. The investments will be directed to the development and processing of mineral resources, as well as to the development of infrastructure.