Luxembourg pledges over $11 million for Ukraine energy fund

Luxembourg will contribute an extra €10 million to Ukraine’s Energy Support Fund, as part of its ongoing assistance to the country amid Russia’s continuing invasion.

The pledge was made during a confidential meeting in Kyiv on April 30 between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, and Defence Minister Yuriko Backes, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

Although the nearly 50-minute discussion was held behind closed doors and without media present, it is understood that both Bettel and Backes reaffirmed Luxembourg’s commitment to Ukraine.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Luxembourg’s Foreign Ministry has channelled around €80 million into humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts. In addition to this support, €16 million has already been allocated to the Energy Fund, with the government now pledging a further €10 million.

The meeting came hours before a breakthrough was announced in Kyiv’s ongoing negotiations with Washington over natural resource investment. The United States and Ukraine formally signed a long-anticipated agreement on April 30, granting the US privileged access to new resource development projects across Ukraine. These include ventures involving aluminium, graphite, oil and natural gas.

The deal is seen as a pivotal moment in strengthening the relationship between the Trump administration and Kyiv, particularly as peace talks with Russia remain delicate. Ukrainian officials had grown increasingly concerned that US President Donald Trump might reduce his support for Ukraine’s position in the negotiations.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the agreement “signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centred on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.” He added that no entity involved in supporting Russia’s war effort would be allowed to profit from Ukraine’s reconstruction.

According to Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, the two countries will establish a joint investment fund to attract international capital into Ukraine. The fund will also serve to partially reimburse the US for future military assistance. Half of the revenues from new licences in projects related to critical materials, oil and gas will finance the fund, and the US will have first claim on any profits transferred into it.

In a televised town hall on April 30 evening, Trump revealed that he had discussed the deal with Zelenskyy during Pope Francis’s funeral at the Vatican last weekend, noting he told the Ukrainian leader that “it’s a very good thing if we can produce a deal that you sign.”

The agreement concludes weeks of contentious negotiations that nearly derailed in February, when Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington ended in disagreement during a tense exchange with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office.

While it remains unclear whether the minerals agreement featured in discussions with the Luxembourgish ministers earlier in the day, the alignment of both meetings underscores Ukraine’s strategic push to secure long-term Western support across both defence and development fronts.

By Aghakazim Guliyev