Ukraine completes steps for minerals deal with US, deputy prime minister says

(Reuters) - Ukraine has concluded procedures for implementation of a deal with the United States on exploiting minerals, including the operation of an investment fund, the country's first deputy prime minister said on Tuesday.

Yulia Svyrydenko gave few details of the latest step in securing approval of the accord, promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump, but it was known that two additional documents were drawn up as part of its implementation.

"Another milestone on the path to launching the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund: Ukraine has completed all necessary procedures on schedule," Svyrydenko wrote in English on social media.

She said a note certifying completion of the process had been handed to interim U.S. Charge d'Affaires Julie Davis.

"These are equal agreements — forward-looking, aligned with Ukraine's national interests, and structured to ensure investment flows exclusively into Ukraine’s recovery and growth," Svyrydenko wrote.

After weeks of tough negotiations following a shouting match between President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Trump in the Oval Office, Svyrydenko signed the minerals agreement in Washington and it was ratified last week by the Ukrainian parliament.

After that vote, Svyrydenko described the accord as "not merely a legal construct — it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner."

The minerals agreement hands the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and sets up the investment fund, which could be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine for the first 10 years.

Ukraine also sees the deal as a way to unlock supplies of new U.S. weapons, especially additional Patriot air defence systems it sees as vital to protect against Russian air attacks.

Zelenskiy hailed the reworked draft of the agreement as a marked improvement over earlier versions that some critics in Ukraine had denounced as "colonial." The accord also acknowledges Ukraine's bid to join the European Union.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Rod Nickel)