KYIV — Ukrainian lawmakers voted Thursday to ratify a controversial economic partnership with the U.S. that gives America access to profit from the Eastern European country’s vast mineral resources.
After a tense debate that included criticism from the opposition, 338 MPs out of 400 officially voted to establish the American-Ukrainian Reconstruction Investment Fund that will be filled equally by both sides via a series of opaque means, but including mining and energy profits.
Representatives for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump signed the minerals deal last week, after months of tense negotiations that included a spectacular Oval Office blowup between the two leaders.
The agreement will see the U.S. develop and profit from Ukraine’s mineral wealth, which includes elements vital to manufacturing modern technologies, while contributing to a reconstruction fund to help the country after three years of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.
