Heres how Trump spared US taxpayers from paying for Ukraine military aid with long-awaited minerals deal

WASHINGTON — President Trump followed through on a promise to make Ukraine pay for its military aid with the new mineral rights agreement between Washington and Kyiv, which creates a new path for the US to send weapons to the eastern European nation — without spending a single taxpayer dollar.The agreement, inked on Wednesday after months of negotiations, created a shared investment fund to which both nations will contribute — including through oil, gas and mineral rights licenses sold in Ukraine — with the profits split 50/50.Instead of investing money into the fund, the United States reserves the option to earn credit toward their total contribution equal to the cost of any military equipment, technology or training it sends across the Atlantic, according to the deal.“If, after the effective date, the Government of the United States of America delivers new military assistance to the Government of Ukraine in any form — including the donation of weapons systems, ammunition, technology or training — the capital contribution of the U.S.Partner will be deemed to be increased by the assessed value of such military assistance,” the mineral deal said.The agreement does not preclude the US from dispatching remaining military aid approved by Congress under former President Joe Biden — which is expected to run out by next month — nor does it require the US to sell any military aid to Kyiv.Exactly how much each side will be required to contribute to the fund has yet to be determined, as Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said logistical talks are ongoing.

Once those talks conclude, a second document with “all the formal details about the operation and how it would go,” will be sent to Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada parliament for ratification, a process Kyiv-based Center for European Policy Analysis senior fellow Hanna Shelest said could take about a month.“What I heard from a few diplomats in Ukraine is that the US wanted us to sign it imme...