The Governments of Ukraine and the United States are considering deeper cooperation in the field of critical materials to encourage American businesses to enter Ukraine and invest in mining and processing.

The implementation of joint investment projects and other areas of economic partnership between Ukraine and the United States were discussed during a meeting between the Ministry of Economy and the U.S. delegation on 12 August. The event was attended by First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Oleksii Sobolev, Deputy Ministers Taras Kachka, Volodymyr Kuzio, Ihor Bezkaravainyi and Tetyana Berezhna, and Head of the Ukrainian Geological Survey Roman Opimakh. The U.S. side was represented by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Ukraine Bridget Brink, members of the U.S. Senate Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal.

“The Government of Ukraine expresses its gratitude to the United States for its unprecedented support of Ukraine in the fight against the russian aggressor, for financial, humanitarian, energy and expert assistance. Ukraine is committed to further fruitful partnership in priority sectors of the economy and can offer a wide range of investment opportunities. One sector with great potential for development is critical materials. Ukraine is one of the richest countries in Europe in terms of mineral resources, so the Government is interested in cooperation with the United States in the field of critical materials, which can help accelerate the green transition and improve the security situation in the region,” said Oleksii Sobolev.

The First Deputy Minister stressed that in April Ukraine joined the Minerals Security Partnership Forum. The Government is ready to develop cooperation in this area in accordance with the MSP principles.

The parties also discussed the use of frozen russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine. The Government of Ukraine is grateful to the United States, the G7 countries and the EU for providing Ukraine with financial support of USD 50 billion from future proceeds of frozen russian assets. Most of these funds are to be provided as direct budget support to cover the budget deficit. The other part will be used to purchase weapons and ammunition, including from Ukrainian producers, and to finance Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts.

According to Oleksii Sobolev, the Ukrainian Government’s goal is to seize all russian state assets located abroad in favour of Ukraine. He also highlighted the U.S. Congress’s Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, which allowed the U.S. to transfer up to USD 5 billion of frozen russian assets to Ukraine.