Russia launches the most deadly attack on Kyiv this year
Headline update reflecting the right position and range of attack: Previous versions of this video misunderstood today’s attack as the most deadly in Ukraine in a few months.
In exchange for investments in reconstruction, Ukraine and the US have signed a long-standing economic partnership agreement that will allow Washington to preferentially access the new Ukrainian natural resources.
The two countries sometimes signed the agreement a few months after negotiations.
The agreement was scheduled to be signed in February, but fell apart after a fierce exchange between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Voldy Zelensky about how to end the Ukrainian-Russia war.
The US Treasury Department said Ukraine and the US will form what they call “reconstruction investment funds.” The deal will allow Kiev and Washington to work together with “mutual assets, talent and capabilities” to accelerate Ukraine’s recovery, according to the statement. According to UN estimates, Russian invasion and nearly a day of missiles and drone strikes against Ukrainian civil infrastructure have caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damage to roads, apartments, schools, energy facilities, shopping malls and transportation hubs.
“Together with the US, we are creating a fund that will attract global investment in our country,” Ukraine’s first vice-prime minister, Yulia Swillidenko, wrote on social media platform X on April 30.
The exact parameters of the agreement were not immediately published. However, the draft agreement seen by Reuters gave the US a preference for access to new Ukrainian natural resource transactions. They did not automatically hand over Ukrainian mineral wealth or its gas infrastructure share to Washington.
The agreement provides for the establishment of a Joint US-Ukrainian Fund Reconstruction Fund, which receives 50% of the benefits and royalties arising to the Ukrainian state from Ukraine’s new natural resource permits.
The Ukrainian Geological Survey, a government agency, estimates that 5% of the world’s “critical raw materials” are found in Ukraine. This includes graphite reserves used to make batteries for electric vehicles. They also have the supply of titanium, lithium, and elements such as beryllium and uranium, which are used in nuclear weapons and reactors. Research shows that Ukraine has major deposits of copper, lead, zinc, silver, nickel and cobalt.
Secdev, a Canadian geopolitical risk consultant, conducted an assessment in 2022 and concluded that Russia had occupied 63% of Ukrainian coal mines and half of its manganese, cesium, tantalum and rare earth sediments. Rare earth is used to make components in smartphones, LED lights and electric vehicles.
Peace negotiations between the US, Ukraine and Russia
Officials from the US, Ukraine and Russian are continuing to debate the potential conditions of peace in the war that began with the Russian invasion three years ago. The Kremlin has announced a three-day ceasefire between May 8th and 10th during the Moscow Victory Day celebration. Ukraine does not agree to that, Russia will soon stop the fire, and Russia’s permanent missile and drone attacks mean that Russia has no real interest in peace.
At least two people were killed overnight in the Russian drone attack, and five more injured in the city of Odesa, Ukraine.
The Kremlin has not yet commented on the Ukraine-US economic partnership agreement, which has been greatly promoted by Trump. But former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev wrote on the Telegram messaging app that signing the agreement ultimately meant that Kiev would ultimately force him to pay aid to Ukraine.
“Now they will have to pay for military supplies with the wealth of the peoples of the nations that have disappeared,” Medvedev said.