Former US Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker has said that the newly signed Ukraine-US agreement on cooperation in the field of minerals and natural resources will not yield immediate financial results but plays an important political role.

Source: Volker on 13 June during the GLOBSEC-2025 forum in Czechia

Details: Volker recalled that the agreement involves the creation of a Recovery Fund, which is expected to receive revenues from future natural resource extraction licences in Ukraine.

However, he noted that "the reality is: nothing will go into this fund... for years and years".

Instead, he explained that the main purpose of the deal is to shift the narrative in the US – moving away from portraying Ukraine as a charity case and towards a vision in which it can "repay" the aid and provide compensation in the future.

Volker stated that "the Biden administration has been spending taxpayers’ money limitlessly and having no strategy". Meanwhile, now, he added, there is a strategy, and "a way Ukraine can pay them [the US – ed.] back".

He stressed that any financial return from this initiative would only be possible after the war ends and following years of investment in the extraction sector.

Commenting on the investment outlook, Volker stated that large parts of Ukraine remain safe for business and that many of the barriers to investors stem not from the war but from the country’s business climate.

Volker said that it is necessary to clearly identify what is hindering economic development and remove these obstacles.

Background: 

• On 8 May, Ukraine’s parliament ratified the so-called minerals agreement with the US and approved the creation of a joint Ukrainian-American reconstruction investment fund. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law on 12 May.
• On 13 May, Ukraine signed two commercial agreements with the US International Development Finance Corporation as part of the implementation of the ratified investment fund deal.
• On 4 June, Ukraine’s parliament approved amendments to the Budget Code to enable the implementation of the US-Ukraine mineral resources agreement.

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