[Text/Observer Network Liu Chenghui] After many twists and turns, the US and Ukraine have made new progress in their mineral agreement.

On April 17 local time, Dmytro Sviridenko, Ukraine's first deputy prime minister and Minister of Economy, posted on social media to announce that the US and Ukraine had signed an "intentional memorandum" regarding the mineral agreement. The next step will be the final determination and signing of the agreement text and its submission for approval by the parliaments of both countries.

US President Trump said on April 17 that the mineral agreement with Ukraine would be signed on the 24th. However, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen later clarified that the signing date was expected to be on the 26th.

Sviridenko posted a photo of herself signing the memorandum online on the X platform.

She wrote: "We are pleased to announce the signing of an intentional memorandum with our American partners, paving the way for the signing of an economic partnership agreement and the establishment of the Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund."

"This document is the result of the professional work of the negotiation team, who recently completed another round of technical discussions in Washington."

"The next step is the final determination and signing of the agreement text, followed by submission for parliamentary approval."

Sviridenko previewed the day before that positive new progress had been made in the mineral agreement and the establishment of the Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund. Both sides agreed to reflect this progress in an "intentional memorandum" and prepare to finalize the agreement in the near future.

Earlier, officials familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that the US and Ukraine had already signed an intention memorandum, committing to advance an agreement on an investment fund for Ukraine's natural resources and energy assets. Both parties hope to finalize a comprehensive economic agreement by the end of next week.

The report considered the remarks of Ukrainian officials as marking a "positive step forward," putting the challenging negotiation process back on track.

On February 28, Zelenskyy visited the White House and met with Trump, during which they had a fierce argument, preventing the signing of the mineral agreement. Later, representatives from both countries held talks multiple times in Saudi Arabia. On March 28, Ukraine stated that it had received a new proposal from the US for the mineral agreement, which was "completely different" from the previous version. On April 11 and 12, Ukraine's team traveled to the US for "technical" consultations on the agreement content.

The day before signing the memorandum, Zelenskyy said in a video address that the "basic legal content" of the US-Ukraine mineral agreement had been largely finalized. If everything could proceed "swiftly and constructively," the agreement would bring economic benefits to both countries.

Late in the evening of the 17th, Trump said at the Oval Office of the White House while meeting with Italian Prime Minister Meloni that the US government planned to sign a comprehensive agreement on natural resources and energy assets with Ukraine next Thursday (the 24th).

However, Yellen later clarified that details were still being finalized, with the goal of signing on April 26 (next Saturday).

Yellen added that the agreement was basically the same as the previous negotiated agreement, when Zelenskyy and Trump did not sign the memorandum of understanding.

Ukrainian officials said they had managed to make the agreement more in line with Ukraine's interests.

Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter said that both sides were expected to report on the progress of the negotiations on April 26 and sign the agreement soon after Prime Minister Shmyhal's visit to Washington.

Ukrainian officials also said that it was possible to sign a comprehensive agreement, but it was uncertain until the final determination of the negotiations in the coming days.

On February 28, the US and Ukrainian leaders met at the White House, parted ways unhappily, and the signing ceremony of the mineral agreement was canceled. Visual China

Trump has long advocated reaching a broad agreement that would give the US priority access to Ukraine's natural resources, including critical minerals and rare earths, which he sees as compensation for the billions of dollars in military aid provided by the Biden administration to Ukraine. However, Zelenskyy has remained cautious about signing agreements without security guarantees.

Bloomberg reported on April 16 that the US government had relaxed conditions requiring Ukraine to repay aid funds during negotiations. The estimated amount of aid funds calculated by the US side was reduced from approximately $300 billion to approximately $100 billion, close to the amount previously announced by Ukraine.

The key difference between the two sides currently lies in the fact that the US still insists that the future earnings of the joint investment fund established within the framework of the mineral agreement should be prioritized for repaying US aid rather than used for investment in Ukraine. Moreover, the US is unwilling to make new investment commitments until it has fully recovered all aid funds.

Reuters reported that Trump viewed his proposed mineral agreement as part of efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict and as a way to recover the huge military aid funds provided to Ukraine. Previously, Zelenskyy clearly stated that Ukraine would not consider US military aid as a loan.

It is known that US Secretary of State Rubio and Middle East Envoy Witkowski held meetings with Ukrainian officials in Paris on the 17th.

Trump said on the same day that he would "listen to Russia's opinion" on America's proposal for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine "this week." Trump said that the US would soon receive a message from Russia, and the US hoped to stop the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

This article is an exclusive article by the Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7494447850730832420/

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