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The Trump administration appears to be insisting that Ukraine relinquish half of its revenues from natural resource extraction, with no security guarantee in exchange.
Feb. 22, 2025Updated 9:28 a.m. ET
As Ukraine on Saturday negotiated a deal to cede rights to its vast natural resources, the Trump administration was pushing terms almost identical to the ones Kyiv rejected a week ago as too onerous, according to a draft document of the new proposal.
The United States is holding firm on a demand that Ukraine relinquish half of its revenues from natural resources, including minerals, gas and oil, as well as earnings from ports and other infrastructure, according the document, which was reviewed by The New York Times.
Four current and former Ukrainian officials and a Ukrainian businessman who had the terms of the proposal described to them confirmed that the demands remained unchanged.
The document, which was dated Feb. 21, states that the revenues will be directed to a fund in which the United States holds 100 percent financial interest, and that Ukraine should contribute to the fund until it reaches $500 billion — the amount President Trump has demanded from the war-torn country in exchange for American aid. That is more than twice Ukraine’s gross domestic product before the war.
The document does not stipulate that the United States will provide security guarantees for Ukraine in return for access to Ukrainian resources. That key demand from President Volodymyr Zelensky was absent in the first draft agreement presented to him last week, prompting him to decline to sign the deal.
Ukraine was reviewing the proposed new deal on Saturday, and it was possible that it would sign the agreement before the end of the day, though the deal could also get delayed, given that Mr. Zelensky has previously voiced reluctance to accepting its terms.
