Agreement Signed. But What Document Was Actually Signed?
On April 30, 2025, U.S. Finance Minister Scott Bessent and Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko signed an agreement to establish the U.S.-Ukraine Investment Fund for Reconstruction (USURIF). This is not an agreement about mineral extraction — despite how most headlines present it. This is an agreement on creating a joint investment instrument, and it is only the first of two necessary documents.
On May 8, the Verkhovna Rada ratified the agreement with 338 votes in favor. However, in parallel, DFC and Ukraine's Public-Private Partnership Agency (PPPOA) are supposed to sign a separate limited partnership agreement — with detailed rules for fund management and financing structure. This document has not yet been signed.
How the Fund is Structured
The Board of Directors consists of six people — three from each side. Management decisions are made jointly. On the American side, operational work is conducted by the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), on the Ukrainian side — by PPPOA.
Ukraine's contribution — 50% of revenues from concessions, licenses, and production-sharing agreements from new or previously inactive projects for rare earth metals, titanium, lithium, graphite, and uranium extraction. The U.S. contribution — the estimated value of future military assistance: weapons, ammunition, and training programs.
"This agreement clearly signals to Russia that the Trump administration supports a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine."
Press release from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, April 30, 2025
What the Agreement Lacks
The main absence — security guarantees. Kyiv insisted on them throughout all months of negotiations. According to The New York Times, this requirement did not make it into the final text. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal confirmed this directly: there are no security guarantees in the agreement.
Instead, the document provides that the U.S. may increase military aid to Ukraine if a peace agreement with Russia is not reached. "May" — not "must."
As the Carnegie Endowment documented, Ukraine reconceptualized the logic of the agreement: not as a mechanism for obtaining commitments from Washington, but as a tool for keeping the U.S. engaged in the Ukrainian issue on a long-term basis. The American side, for its part, removed provisions that classified previous aid (2022–2025) as debt.
What's Happening with the Fund Now
- December 2025: the fund is declared fully operational.
- January 2026: DFC launches an online portal for project application submissions.
- Investment priorities: titanium, lithium, graphite, manganese, uranium; possible involvement of the oil and gas sector.
- Carnegie: the goal is at least three quality projects within 18 months of launch.
But without a signed limited partnership agreement — a document with specific management rules — any application falls into institutional uncertainty.
If the limited partnership agreement is signed this year and the fund finances the first projects by the end of 2026, Washington will have a real economic incentive to remain engaged regardless of how peace negotiations conclude. If not, the agreement will remain a framework declaration of good intentions that documents an asymmetry: Ukraine has already contributed resources, the U.S. — so far only promises of engagement.
