The US has softened its demands on how much Ukraine should repay for the aid received during Russia's full-scale invasion, writes Bloomberg citing sources.
According to the agency's interlocutors, after negotiations in Washington last week, President Donald Trump's administration reduced the cost of aid provided to Kyiv from $300 billion to about $100 billion. Thus, this is quite close to Ukraine's estimate of more than $90 billion.
However, the US still views the deal as an opportunity to recoup expenses on Ukraine through profits from a fund, the size of which is still unspecified in the latest draft. “The Trump administration remains reluctant to promise future investments in the fund—a key interest of Kyiv in any such deal—and is postponing this issue for discussion,” continues Bloomberg. Kyiv, in turn, is seeking better terms and refuses to recognize past US aid as debt.
According to sources, Ukrainian negotiators struggled to dissuade their American colleagues from such an approach, which formed the basis of some of Washington's most draconian demands. The negotiations between technical teams on Friday and Saturday were constructive, sources in the Ukrainian team reported. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg News that the parties are “very close” to signing an agreement, which could happen as early as this week.
In the initial draft agreement, the US proposed creating a special fund of $500 billion, linked, in particular, to the development of rare earth metals. As part of the agreement, Washington insisted on being granted economic and managerial levers of influence, and the revenues from resource sales were proposed to be directed to compensate for previously provided aid.
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky previously emphasized that the funds allocated by the US cannot be considered as Kyiv's debt.