The agreement on minerals, signed by Ukraine and the U.S., is more political than economic in nature and is aimed at changing the narrative in the U.S. regarding Ukraine.
Such an assessment of the deal was offered by former U.S. State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker, who spoke at the GLOBSEC conference in Prague, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
According to the diplomat, the minerals agreement is broader than just minerals as it creates a Reconstruction Fund so that in the event of new licenses for resource extraction in Ukraine, money would be deposited into this fund and then governed by a board that would discuss how these funds are to be used.
“The reality is that nothing will go into this fund. There will be no money at all as a result of this deal for years, and years, and years… You’re not going to see any money going into this fund until we see the end to the war and years of capitalized investment into resource issues in Ukraine in order to generate this income,” Volker said.
The purpose of the document, in the diplomat’s assessment, is “changing the political narrative from the one being charity for Ukraine (‘we’re going to help these poor Ukrainians who’ve been attacked’) to one where Ukraine is going to pay its way,” the American explained.
He noted that Ukraine has the capabilities and resources, and is able to pay for its own expenses so that the two countries can be partners and work together.
“This is an important change in the narrative in the United States because Donald Trump and conservative Republicans got very fired up during the Biden administration for spending taxpayer money limitlessly and having no strategy. So now they say we’ve got a strategy,” Volker added, expressing his belief that “this is going to be okay,” and that this creates a situation where the United States and Ukraine can now say that they are on the same course.
The issue, Volker said, is attracting investment to Ukraine. This can be done even amid war because not all of Ukraine is equally dangerous, not all industries are equally dangerous. But foreign investment in Ukraine is hindered to a greater extent by issues related to the business climate than by the war alone.
In this context, Volker mentioned the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will be held in July in Rome. This will be the fourth such event since Russia’s full-scale invasion, but so far none of these conferences have yielded any results, Volker claims. He is convinced that it is time to try to achieve a result. He also called on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to work with some of his G7 counterparts to agree on the creation of an executive authority for Ukraine’s economic recovery, a senior-level body headed by some former European prime minister, with staff who would focus on the next steps every day.
“We need to recognize Russia is not going to change. There is likely to be a ceasefire at some point, maybe as early as this year, which I think is quite possible. We’ve got to be able to act quickly. We have to act faster than Putin in order to strengthen Ukraine’s economy and military and to help Ukraine integrate into the new world,” the former special representative emphasized at a panel discussion, which was also attended by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
As reported, on June 12, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha discussed with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani while on a visit to Rome preparations for the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will be held in the Italian capital next month.
Source: Volker: Minerals deal should shift Ukraine narrative in U.S.
