Ukraine's parliament ratified a mineral agreement with the US government on Thursday, the chairman of the parliament's foreign affairs committee, Oleksandr Merezhko, told Reuters.
338 MPs voted in favour of the agreement. None voted against. The approval comes a week after Ukraine and the US signed the agreement, which could not enter into force without the Ukrainian parliament's approval.
The agreement gives the US privileged access to minerals in Ukraine's subsoil and could pave the way for Ukraine to receive new supplies of military equipment from its US allies.
The US government has thus signalled that the mineral agreement could be necessary if Ukraine wants to continue to receive US military support.
However, the agreement does not come with any security guarantees from the US.
The US Treasury Department has described the agreement as an "economic partnership". The partnership allows the two countries to "collaborate and invest together to ensure that our mutual assets, talents and capabilities can accelerate Ukraine's economic recovery".
Long negotiations
The agreement has been preceded by several months of negotiations. Initially, it was expected that the agreement would be signed when the Ukrainian president visited the White House in February.
But a press conference between Volodymyr Zelenskyj and Donald Trump ended in an argument in front of rolling cameras, and the agreement was not concluded.
Initially, Trump demanded that the agreement include that Ukraine repay the amount spent by the United States on weapons and other military equipment to Ukraine during the war against Russia. That requirement was dropped from the final agreement. Instead, future US aid will count as part of US contributions to a joint reconstruction fund.
The agreement gives the US privileged access to raw materials in Ukraine's subsoil, but Ukraine will have to decide where mining will take place.
The agreement also states that Russia is the aggressor in the current war, which contradicts previous statements by Trump. The goal for the US and Ukraine is a "peaceful, sovereign and resilient Ukraine", it says. The agreement also leaves the door open for Ukraine to become a member of the EU.
/ritzau/
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