Ukrainian government hopes to continue talks with US on minerals agreement

A Ukrainian delegation submitted Kyiv’s prepared proposals to the US side during technical consultations on a future critical minerals agreement held in Washington on 11 April.

Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said on air during the national joint 24/7 newscast that she could not disclose many details about the meeting.

"The very fact that these consultations are taking place is a positive sign. What I can say at this stage is that the Ukrainian delegation had the opportunity to present all the proposals we prepared here in Kyiv, which had been approved. They were all subject to discussion.

But I hope that after these consultations, negotiations will continue until we reach an agreement. This is clearly not the final round," she said.

The technical consultations on the mineral agreement with the United States were attended by teams from Ukraine’s Justice and Economy Ministries.

On 11 April US and Ukrainian officials met to discuss Washington’s proposal to access Ukraine’s mineral resources. However, media reports say prospects for a breakthrough were minimal due to what was described as an "antagonistic" atmosphere.

Earlier, European Pravda reported that the administration of US President Donald Trump had returned to the version of the subsoil agreement a requirement for Ukraine to reimburse all the assistance that the US provided after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.