EXCLUSIVE: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that funding for Ukraine will come with a new level of “transparency” under the Trump administration.
Dispatched by President Donald Trump as part of an effort to end the conflict with Russia, Bessent spoke with FOX Business correspondent Edward Lawrence in Ukraine after offering an economic investment deal related to rare earth materials to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I think by going into partnership with the U.S., it gives a new level of transparency to Ukrainian business,” Bessent said. “And the way we are going to structure the U.S. interest in the fund is very high corporate hygiene standards, best practices. And one assumes that will then be transmitted to the larger Ukraine as a whole.”
TREASURY SECRETARY BESSENT OFFERS ZELENSKYY AN ECONOMIC INVESTMENT DEAL
Bessent added that the deals the U.S. is involved in will have very high standards and full accountability for any money that the nation is owed.
Zelenskyy said he would review the U.S. proposal and respond by Friday when he meets with Vice President JD Vance in Munich. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will also lead the U.S. delegation at the meeting.
While details of the deal have not been disclosed, Bessent said that it anticipates that the U.S. is entitled to revenues that Ukraine is already receiving from some resources. He added that the timing of how quickly the deal will be implemented depends on “the appetite for risk-taking” from the parties that want to commit.
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“The real payoff will be when the conflict ends and there is the rush to rebuild Ukraine,” the treasury secretary said. Wall Street firms including JPMorgan and BlackRock have reportedly discussed investing in the war-torn region, as reported by FOX Business in 2023.
As of mid-2024, Congress has approved $175 billion in aid and military assistance to the Ukrainian government since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The economic deal tied to rare earth materials is the first step in Trump’s deal to restore peace between Ukraine and Russia, Bessent said.
When asked how it fits into a greater peace deal, he said, “It will be showing the Russians that we have an enduring alliance with Ukraine, and then more assets that the U.S. government, U.S. entities have on the ground in Ukraine — that should act as a deterrent over the long run to any more incursions by the Russians.”
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