Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 1 that the signing of a long-awaited U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal was the first concrete result of his recent meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Vatican, calling it a “historic” outcome of their April 26 conversation.
The 15-minute conversation took place inside St. Peter’s Basilica after the two leaders encountered each other at the late pontiff’s funeral. Zelensky reportedly pressed Trump to return to his original proposal of an unconditional ceasefire as the starting point for peace talks, a move Kyiv has supported but Moscow has rejected.
The discussion marked the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since their tense February encounter in the Oval Office, during which Trump and Vice President JD Vance sharply criticized Zelensky over what they described as “a lack of gratitude for U.S. support.”
Zelensky said the minerals agreement — which sets up a joint investment fund between Kyiv and Washington — had been significantly revised during months of negotiations to ensure equal terms and benefits for both sides.
“It is now a truly equal agreement that opens the door to substantial investment in Ukraine and enables major modernization of production within the country, as well as, just as importantly, an upgrade of our legal practices,” Zelensky said.
The agreement, signed April 30 in Washington by Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, creates a reconstruction-focused fund operated as a limited partnership between the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Agency for Supporting Public-Private Partnership representing Ukraine.
The future fund will be financed exclusively from new licenses. Fifty percent of revenues from new licenses in the fields of critical materials, oil, and gas, generated after the fund is created, will be directed to it, according to Svyrydenko.
The minerals deal, which now awaits ratification by Ukraine’s parliament, includes a list of 57 strategic resources and ensures compliance with Ukrainian and EU laws, addressing earlier concerns about sovereignty and conflicts with existing EU agreements. Ukrainian officials also succeeded in removing any repayment obligations for past U.S. military aid.
Opposition MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak said the deal could be voted on during parliamentary sessions between May 13-15, if all procedures are completed in time.
While the current deal doesn’t contain any security guarantees, Svyrydenko wrote on X to say that “in addition to direct financial contributions (to the fund), the deal may also provide new assistance — for example, air defense systems for Ukraine.”
Zelensky hailed the agreement as “a partnership on fair terms” and said it could attract further American support. “We expect other results from our (Vatican) talks,” he added.
Andrea Januta
(Updated: )
