The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, the country's parliament, will hold a vote on May 8 to ratify a natural resources agreement signed with the United States earlier this week.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Wednesday an agreement between the two countries to establish the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, which will give the U.S. preferential access to some of Ukraine's natural resources.
The fund will become operational within a month to a month and a half after the agreement is approved by the Ukrainian parliament, according to Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on Friday.
Speaking to Ukrainian media, the minister expressed her hope for the early launch of the fund, saying it should become a tool for the recovery and development of key sectors of the Ukrainian economy.
Also on Friday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the follow-up technical documents for the fund will not be intergovernmental, but will be signed at the institutional level.
He said that the follow-up agreements will be of an implementation nature between Ukraine's designated agency and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and therefore will not require ratification by the parliament.
Although there are no formal security guarantees in the agreement, but each new military assistance provided by the U.S. to Ukraine is considered a capital contribution, which will encourage the U.S. administration to continue and not to stop supplying Ukraine with weapons and intelligence, said the Ukrainian Prime Minister, who also called on the legislature to ratify the agreement as soon as possible.
Ukrainian parliament to vote on natural resources deal with U.S. on May 8
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned about the U.S. rhetoric suggesting possible intervention in the situation in Iran, urging all parties to pursue diplomacy and dialogue in line with the principles of the UN Charter, his spokesperson said on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his administration is weighing "some very strong options," including potential military action against Iran amid the unrest across the Middle East country.
At a press briefing Monday at the UN Headquarters in New York, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, conveyed Guterres' alarm over the remarks.
"The rhetoric that we've heard around the situation in Iran, which is concerning to him (Guterres), and he encourages all to adopt a path of diplomacy and dialogue," said Dujarric.
"We push for dialogue, and I think the [UN] Charter is very clear on your question," Dujarric said when asked whether foreign intervention might help resolve the crisis. The UN Charter enshrines core principles including the sovereign equality of all states, non-intervention in the affairs of other states, and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
These norms were further reinforced by the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law, adopted by the UN General Assembly, which explicitly states that no state or group of states has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the internal or external affairs of any other state.
Protests have erupted in several Iranian cities since late December over the sharp fall in the national currency rial and long-standing economic hardships. The reported death toll from the unrest on both sides of the security forces and civilians is mounting.
UN chief urges diplomacy amid US military threats against Iran: spokesperson
