May 08, 2025
The 'mineral deal' between the Trump administration and Ukraine continues to be a contentious issue.
The deal, which was signed last week, consists of (at least) three documents only one of which, the framework agreement, was made public:
The Ukrainian government claims that only the first part has been signed. The other two will follow only after the Ukrainian parliament, the Rada, has ratified the main one. Several 'western' media have contradicted that claim. All three parts of the agreement were signed. But the Ukrainian government is keeping the details of the second and third part secret because the conditions imposed by them are extremely bad for Ukraine.
As Strana reported (machine translation):
[T]he opposition already accuses the authorities of concealing the main points about the deal. The fact is that the agreement on the creation of the fund, signed last week and already made public, is being submitted for ratification, and there are very few specifics in it. This is essentially a framework agreement. For all the main points in the text of the agreement, there are references to another document - the Limited Partnership Agreement. There is also a third document - the Foundation's charter.A number of deputies claim that all three documents have actually been signed (or agreed upon). But they showed only one-the least important and most abstract of them, from which it is not even clear what the Foundation will do in general.
The government denies this, saying that only one document has been signed, and the rest will still be discussed.
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, is supposed to ratify the framework agreement today. It will likely do so but with a surprise.
Yesterday the Rada Committee for Foreign Policy passed the relevant language but added an amendment to it (machine translation):
"The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine notes that the ratification of the agreement ... does not mean the ratification or automatic approval by the Parliament of the limited partnership agreement or any other agreements that will be concluded by the parties authorized to do so in order to implement this agreement.The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine declares that any additional agreements necessary for the implementation of the agreement ... cannot go beyond the provisions of this agreement and establish international legal obligations for Ukraine that are not provided for by it and are not agreed upon in accordance with the established procedure."
The additional text was supported by all members of the committee.
The two side agreements of the mineral deal, which the Zelesnki regime has signed and which include all the gory details of the deal, will be null and void without further ratification:
[I]f the resource agreement is ratified with this amendment, it will mean that either Volodymyr Zelensky will have to submit the limited partnership agreement to the Parliament for ratification, or there will be an opportunity to challenge the deal at any time and recognize it as worthless, since it was not fully ratified by the parliament.
If the ratification of the framework agreement takes place with the additional language the Trump administration may find that, for lack of detailed agreements, it has gained absolutely nothing from it.
It is not known if Zelenski had planned or even supported the parliament move. That all committee members, including those from his party, voted for the amendment may be a hint.
The question then is what Trump is going to do about it?
Posted by b on May 8, 2025 at 11:05 UTC | Permalink