Ukraine and the US agree on the distribution of minerals, oil and gas through a joint industry

The US and Ukraine have finalised the details of an agreement to jointly develop the rare earth, gas and oil extraction industry in the European country, according to sources cited by the Bloomberg agency. Although the details have not yet been released, the agreement represents a step forward in Donald Trump's desire to reach a peace agreement in the region, and increases the pressure on the US president to convince Russia to stop the invasion.

According to sources told Bloomberg, the agreement does not include an explicit security guarantee , as Ukraine had requested. But the fact that the US would be directly involved in these industries would be an "implicit" guarantee, as the US would not be happy if Russia started attacking its companies once they were established on Ukrainian territory.

The deal will be submitted to Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday, with the specifics to be worked out later. The big question now is how the deal will be split and what Ukraine's involvement in the joint industry will be . Trump had asked Ukraine to hand over $350 billion worth of raw materials, but the European country had twice rejected this formula, which had angered Trump.

But the visit of Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, appears to have broken the deadlock. The key may be to shift the idea of ​​Ukraine's "war reparations" to the US into participation as more equal partners in developing an industry from which Ukraine itself could profit and finance its reconstruction.

The other big question is security guarantees, as Ukraine needs Western troops to ensure that Russia does not break any peace deal. There has been talk of sending European troops, and Trump had suggested that Russia might agree to it, but Moscow poured cold water on this possibility on Tuesday.

The key, however, is Russia, which is ultimately responsible for the war and the only one who can stop it. For Ukraine, this agreement has the advantage of putting Trump's mouth on the honey, offering a reward for the US if he manages to convince Vladimir Putin to end the attack on his country and tying the US to its future reconstruction. But Moscow gets nothing out of this agreement, so the desired peace remains up in the air.