Ukraine opposes US demand for $500 billion fund in minerals deal

Volodymyr Verbianyi, Bloomberg News on Feb 22, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Ukraine has pushed back against U.S. demands for a $500 billion fund that would be part of a deal to give Washington a cut of the country’s mineral wealth, a Ukrainian official familiar with talks said.

The fund would compensate the U.S. for its assistance provided to the war-torn nation since the start of Russia’s invasion. Ukraine is arguing the actual amount is about five times lower at more than $90 billion, said the person who declined to be named because the talks are private.

Another sticking point in talks is the lack of U.S. assurances of future military and financial aid, the person said.

Addressing a Conservative Political Action Conference audience outside Washington on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said “we’re going to get our money back” and “we’re asking for rare earth and oil — anything we can get.”

“I think we’re pretty close to deal — and we’d better be close to a deal,” he said.