Donald Trump’s demand for $500 billion in “compensation” from Kiev goes far beyond any precious earth metals, according to documents obtained by British media.
Instead, the US plan is said to be effectively to take economic control of much of Ukraine’s natural resources, ports and infrastructure and loot the country of most of its value.
The Telegraph is one of the media outlets to have seen drafts of the classified contract, which is said to have caused both consternation and panic in Kiev.
The paper characterizes the plans as the US engaging in the “economic colonisation of Ukraine, in legal perpetuity” and warns that they “imply a burden of reparations that cannot possibly be achieved”.
The draft, drawn up on February 7, states, among other things, that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund to ensure that “hostile parties to the conflict do not benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.
The agreement covers the “economic value associated with resources of Ukraine”, including “mineral resources, oil and gas resources, ports, other infrastructure (as agreed)”.
“Pay first – then feed your children”
The US will take 50% of the recurring revenues received by Ukraine from the extraction of natural resources, and 50% of the financial value of “all new licences issued to third parties” for future capitalization of natural resources.
There will also be “a lien on such revenues” in favor of the United States and the agreement also states that “for all future licences, the US will have a right of first refusal for the purchase of exportable minerals”.
– This clause means ‘pay us first, and then feed your children’, says a source.
Washington will gain sovereign immunity and acquire almost total control over most of Ukraine’s raw materials and resource economy, the paper writes.
Revealed: Trump’s confidential plan to put Ukraine in a stranglehold
US president demands higher share of Ukrainian GDP than reparations imposed on Germany at Versailles(!*)https://t.co/iNLw8QYm0L
* that went well… pic.twitter.com/aiUTG5gEGV
— Douglas Hall (@MrDouglasHall) February 17, 2025
Worse than 1945
The fund “shall have the exclusive right to establish the method, selection criteria, terms, and conditions” for all future licenses and projects. According to observers, the contract appears to have been drawn up by private lawyers, not by the US State or Commerce Departments.
President Zelensky himself has previously floated the idea of giving the US a stake in Ukraine’s rare earths in the hope of paving the way for continued arms supplies – but was reportedly not prepared for demands of this magnitude.
“He probably did not expect to be confronted with terms normally imposed on aggressor states defeated in war. They are worse than the financial penalties imposed on Germany and Japan after their defeat in 1945. Both countries were ultimately net recipients of funds from the victorious allies”, the paper writes.
If Trump’s proposal were to be accepted, it would mean that his demands amount to a higher share of Ukraine’s GDP than the reparations Germany was obliged to pay under the Treaty of Versailles, it notes.
Stating that Ukraine will pay
According to the US President, Ukraine has also “essentially agreed” to hand over assets worth the amount demanded.
– They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earths, in terms of oil and gas, in terms of other things, the President previously declared.
Senator Lindsey Graham, speaking at this weekend’s Munich Security Conference, also praised Trump’s “negotiating strategy”, saying it could lead to renewed US popular support for Kiev.
– This minerals agreement between the United States and Ukraine is a game changer, because President Trump can go to the American people and say Ukraine is not a burden, it’s a benefit, he argued.
