After months of tense negotiations, the U.S. and Ukraine have signed a deal that is expected to give Washington access to the country’s critical minerals and other natural resources.

After ongoing deliberations and uncertainty, the United States and Ukraine signed a deal on Wednesday, April 30, allowing the U.S. preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals in return for an investment fund for Kyiv.

But most mineral deposits in Ukraine have scant data to confirm they are economically viable. Investors may also baulk at funnelling money into a country where infrastructure such as power and transport has been devastated by Russia's three-year-old full-scale invasion and future security is not guaranteed.