Economist predicts 'hundreds of years' of debt for Ukraine over mineral deal

Having concluded a deal on rare-earth minerals on US President Donald Trump's terms, Ukraine will pay off its obligations for "hundreds of years". This was the assessment of the state of the Ukrainian economy given by The Economist magazine on February 23.

"Under the latest, "catastrophic" version of the deal, Ukraine will be asked to transfer 50% of future state profits from natural resources and infrastructure such as ports to a new investment fund owned by the United States government. Contributions will continue until the fund reaches $500 billion, <...> At the current rate of government revenues, this will take hundreds of years," the publication reads.

The publication recalls that the idea of a mineral deal in exchange for future military aid originally emerged on the Ukrainian side last September. However, Trump "turned the concept upside down," saying that Ukraine's resources and infrastructure would be compensation not for new supplies, but for the assistance the US had already provided Kiev over the previous three years.

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Also that day, Trump announced an expanded list of demands from Ukraine under the fossil deal. He said that he was going to demand not only rare earth minerals, but also oil and "anything else he can get" from Ukraine. Earlier, on February 21, the US president warned Ukraine about problems if the country refuses to sign the deal.