Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the United States will provide Ukraine with financial assistance in the amount of $15 billion annually both this year and next, reports “Ukrinform“, BTA reports.
According to him, thanks to the Investment Fund for Recovery, created under the recent Treaty on the Natural Resources of Ukraine, concluded between Kiev and Washington, Ukraine may receive the funds planned for 2026 this year.
“After that, Ukraine will begin to gradually pay its share of the fund, in accordance with the agreement“, Zelensky explained to journalists this morning.
He added that with the signing of this treaty, American business will for the first time actively enter the Ukrainian market, which, according to him, will strengthen the country's economic and strategic security.
“Trump told me, and this is the most serious guarantee I have ever received, that Ukraine will not be touched by the Russians - we are partners and we will defend ourselves with all our might“, Zelensky said. He recalled that some of the natural resources enshrined in the agreement are located near Pokrovsk - an area where some of the heaviest fighting is currently taking place.
During their meeting with US President Donald Trump at the Vatican last Saturday, the two leaders also discussed the possibility of supplying air defense systems, as well as the topic of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
Zelensky also raised the issue of introducing stricter US sanctions against Russia.
“I won't go into details, but what he told me sounded extremely strong“, the Ukrainian president said.
He described his conversation with Trump as the best of all between them so far. “It may have been our shortest conversation, but it was the most meaningful. With all due respect to our teams, I think the face-to-face format worked. We had the right atmosphere for a conversation," Zelensky said.
Meanwhile, the US authorities are preparing a new package of economic sanctions against Moscow, in order to increase pressure on the Russian government to end the war in Ukraine, recalls "Ukrinform".