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New Round of Ukraine-US Negotiations on Mineral Agreement Set for April 24
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![Maryna_kulakova]( "Photo of Maryna Kulakova")
-924c3c302c27387e19f6c44aaeb98745.png "Photo of Maryna Kulakova")
The next round of negotiations between Ukraine and the United States on the economic partnership agreement and the creation of an investment fund for Ukraine’s reconstruction will begin in the US on April 24, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Taras Kachka announced on April 18.
“Next Thursday, April 24, the new round of negotiations will begin. We are currently working in parallel with both our legal teams and the US team, and we are trying to resolve many technical issues online and in writing to narrow them down to the most sensitive matters that will require political decisions,” Kachka explained during a television marathon. He led the Ukrainian delegation during the technical consultations on the agreement.
The Deputy Minister of Economy assured that the negotiations do not involve recognizing the assistance already provided by the United States to Ukraine as a debt.
“This is about ensuring that… from the activities of this fund, from future investments in Ukraine, the United States, as one of the partners—and Ukraine as the other—will earn at least as much as the aid that was provided, if not more,” he said.
The memorandum of intent regarding the preparation of the agreement, signed by representatives of Ukraine and the US earlier, states that the negotiating groups are expected to report on progress by April 26, “with the goal of completing discussions by that date and signing as soon as possible.”
To facilitate this, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is set to travel to the US next week. He is scheduled to meet with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen and “support the high-level completion of the technical discussions.”
However, whether the agreement will be ready for signing by April 26 depends on how “constructive and effective” the negotiations are, Kachka noted.
“We are prepared to demonstrate maximum efficiency, but the volume of documents involved here is measured in dozens of pages,” he added.
Earlier, it was reported that the United States has scaled back its repayment demands from Ukraine as part of ongoing talks over a broader economic partnership, according to people familiar with the matter, according to Bloomberg on April 16.
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