Ukraine and the United States plan to make a new minerals fund operational by the end of the year, with the first board meeting expected in July, according to Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
She shared the update in Washington on Wednesday after meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Development Finance Corporation, which will be a partner in the fund.
The fund was created under an agreement signed in Washington in April after weeks of negotiations that changed the terms in Ukraine’s favour. Ukraine’s parliament later ratified the deal.
Svyrydenko said officials discussed specific steps needed to launch the fund, including deciding on seed capital and adopting an investment strategy for the coming years.
The agreement followed a tense exchange between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy about ways to end Ukraine’s war with Russia. Their meeting at the Vatican in April during Pope Francis’s funeral helped improve relations.
The minerals fund deal was seen as a key step in rebuilding ties between the two countries.
