Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister, Taras Kachka, stated that the US put significant pressure on Kiev to finalize a minerals agreement.
According to Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka, the negotiations between Ukraine and the United States regarding a crucial minerals agreement felt like a scene from a “mafia movie.”
The agreement, finalized in late April after months of private discussions, establishes a joint investment fund and provides Washington with preferential access to Ukraine’s natural resources. However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently highlighted that it lacks any American security guarantees, despite Kiev’s attempts to link economic cooperation to defense commitments.
In a Thursday interview with The Times, Kachka likened the atmosphere of the talks to that of a “calm… like in a mafia movie,” where influential figures in suits decide “matters of life and death” in quiet, tense settings.
He acknowledged the intense pressure from Washington. “Of course, we saw all the Truth Social posts from President Donald Trump. But if you remove emotions from this, it just indicated a strong interest to have this agreement here and now,” the deputy minister emphasized. Tensions rose in early April when a draft of the agreement was leaked to the media, resulting in accusations between US and Ukrainian officials.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in March that “[Trump] understands that the American people are sick and tired of footing the bill for this war to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.”
Ukrainians widely interpreted this sentiment as reinforcing Washington’s urgency to secure tangible benefits, such as access to natural resources, in exchange for continued support.
Despite the difficulties, Kachka expressed his satisfaction with the final result, noting that both sides were successful in “finding common ground.”
Earlier this month, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of the Security Council, commented on the agreement, portraying it as a coercive action by Washington. “Trump finally forced Kiev to pay for US aid with its natural wealth,” Medvedev claimed. “From now on, they’ll have to trade away the resources of a vanishing country in exchange for military supplies.”
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