The United States offers new conditions for cooperation to Ukraine, which provide for the control of the Druzhba main gas pipeline, which takes place in the territory of Ukraine and provides gas supply to Europe. In case of approval of Kyiv on these conditions, the responsibility for the gas pipeline will be entrusted to the International Development Corporation (DFC), which is under the control of the US Government. Negotiations on this issue took place on April 11 in Washington, and, according to Reuters, they were extremely tense, and the parties had significant differences.
This step is part of the draft agreement concerning minerals of Ukraine. The US side insists that if its approval, it will receive privileged access to Ukrainian deposits, including production and investment in infrastructure. Other important points of the project include Ukraine's obligations to direct all income from the production of resources (both by state and private companies) to a joint investment fund. This approach will allow the US to control the profits from these resources until Ukraine returns the amount that is "at least equivalent to the US -directed help."
The United States also require control of important energy infrastructures, including the Druzhba gas pipeline, which is strategic to supply energy to Europe. According to Reuters, negotiations between representatives of Ukraine and the United States were in an atmosphere of deep stress, and now Kiev has not made the final decision on signing the agreement.
However, it should be noted that the new agreement does not provide direct security guarantees for Ukraine by the United States. This leaves the question of what role Washington will play in the further protection of Ukraine's territorial integrity, given that the terms of the agreement provide for great economic and strategic dependence on the United States.
According to The New York Times, the new version of the agreement contains even more rigorous conditions than previous projects and aimed at strengthening US influence on Ukrainian resources and economics. This issue has already raised serious discussions among politicians and economists in Ukraine, who questioned the feasibility of such steps, given the growing dependence on external states.
