US to secure $800bn in Ukraine reconstruction contracts – The Telegraph

The agreement is reportedly based on a rare earths deal granting American investors preferential access to future mining projects

RT: Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and US President Donald Trump. ©  Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Washington and Kiev are preparing to sign an $800 billion agreement to rebuild Ukraine, The Telegraph has reported. The deal is scheduled to be sealed at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos later this month, Western sources told the newspaper.

The agreement is reportedly structured around the rare earth minerals deal clinched by Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and US President Donald Trump last year. The accord grants Washington preferential access to the resources; however, the security guarantees long sought by Kiev are not included.

At the time, Trump promoted the agreement as a way to recover what he described as the massive financial aid provided to Kiev by the previous administration. Earlier this week, he reiterated that a deal on rare earth metals was a condition for the White House to continue its efforts to peacefully resolve the Ukraine conflict.

“I said that if we want to move forward, we need rare earth metals,” Trump told Fox News on Thursday. “We want our money back.”

Officials told The Telegraph that the “prosperity” plan envisages attracting around $800 billion over ten years through a combination of loans, grants and private-sector investment.

The newspaper noted that US envoy Steve Witkoff called the agreement a crucial part of the overall ceasefire package he has been negotiating for the past few months. The top state official reportedly said that the world’s largest investment group, BlackRock, would participate in the program.

Trump repeatedly criticized unconditional aid to Kiev in the past, calling Zelensky “the greatest salesman on earth.” Last year, he said his predecessor, Joe Biden, had “fleeced” America by committing $350 billion in military aid to Ukraine.

He has since argued that the US is now profiting from the conflict by sending Ukraine weapons which are being paid for by Washington’s European NATO partners. Moscow has repeatedly condemned Western arms deliveries to Kiev, arguing that they prolong the fighting without altering its outcome.