Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 1, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba GARDEN TOUR Saturday, July 5 th 2025 9 am to 4 pm www.naturemanitoba.ca HOW TO ENTER TO WIN: Send an email to contest@naturemanitoba.ca include your full name, email and phone number to be entered. Contest entry deadline is May 6, 2025. Dis t inc t ion ofGardens TICKETS WIN More information at: www.naturemanitoba.ca/win-tickets-2025-garden-tour W ASHINGTON — The U.S. and Ukraine announced on Wed- nesday an economic agree- ment after a weekslong press by Presi- dent Donald Trump on Ukraine to compensate Washington for billions in military and economic assistance to help Ukraine repel the Russian inva- sion. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a video posted to X that “this partnership allows the United States to invest alongside Ukraine, to un- lock Ukraine’s growth assets, mobil- ize American talent, capital and gov- ernance standards that will improve Ukraine’s investment climate and ac- celerate Ukraine’s economic recovery.” The announcement comes at a critic- al moment in the war as Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with leaders of Russia and Ukraine with the brutal fighting dragging on. The American president has criti- cized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for steps that he said were prolonging the killing, and he has re- buked Russian President Vladimir Pu- tin for complicating negotiations with “very bad timing” in launching deadly strikes on Kyiv. Trump on Saturday met with Zelen- skyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral. Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko in a post on X celebrated the breakthrough. “Together with the United States, we are creating the Fund that will attract global investment to our country,” she said. The two sides offered only barebone details about the structure of the deal, but it is expected to give the U.S. ac- cess to its valuable rare minerals in the hopes of ensuring continued American support for Kyiv in its grinding war with Russia. Svyrydenko flew to Washington on Wednesday to help finalize the deal, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said during an appearance on Ukrainian television. Although the main part of the agree- ment had been settled, there were still hurdles to overcome, said a senior Ukrainian official who spoke on condi- tion of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. For Ukraine, the agreement is seen as key to ensuring its access to future U.S. military aid. “Truly, this is a strategic deal for the creation of an investment partner fund,” Shmyhal said. “This is truly an equal and good international deal on joint investment in the development and restoration of Ukraine between the governments of the United States and Ukraine.” Trump began his push for a deal in February that he wanted access to Ukraine’s rare earth materials as a con- dition for continued U.S. support in the war, describing it as reimbursement for the billions of dollars in aid the U.S. has given to Kyiv. But talks stalled after a tense Oval Office meeting of U.S. and Ukrainian leaders, and reaching an agreement since then has proven difficult and strained relations between Washington and Kyiv. Negotiations appeared to drag on till shortly before the two sides confirmed an agreement had been signed on the deal. Earlier Wednesday, Bessent said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House — hours after Ukrainian offi- cials indicated a deal was nearly final- ized — that there was still work to do. “The Ukrainians decided last night to make some last-minute changes,” Bessent said when asked about reports that Ukraine was ready to agree to the pact. “We’re sure that they will recon- sider that. And we are ready to sign this afternoon if they are.” He didn’t elaborate as to the late changes he said Ukraine made. The U.S. has been seeking access to more than 20 raw materials deemed strategically critical to its interests, in- cluding some non-minerals such as oil and natural gas. Among them are Ukraine’s deposits of titanium, which is used for making aircraft wings and other aerospace manufacturing, and uranium, which is used for nuclear power, medical equip- ment and weapons. Ukraine also has lithium, graphite and manganese, which are used in elec- tric vehicle batteries. After Kyiv felt the initial U.S. draft of the deal disproportionately favoured American interests, it introduced new provisions aimed at addressing those concerns. According to Shmyhal, the latest ver- sion would establish an equal partner- ship between the two countries and last for 10 years. Financial contributions to a joint fund would be made in cash, and only new U.S. military aid would count toward the American share. Assistance provided before the agree- ment was signed would not be counted. Unlike an earlier draft, the deal would not conflict with Ukraine’s path toward European Union membership — a key provision for Kyiv. The Ukrainian Cabinet approved the agreement Wednesday, empowering Svyrydenko to sign it in Washington. Once signed by both sides, the deal would need to be ratified by the Ukrain- ian Parliament before it could take ef- fect. The negotiations come amid rocky progress in Washington’s push to stop the war. Putin backs calls for a ceasefire be- fore peace negotiations, “but before it’s done, it’s necessary to answer a few questions and sort out a few nuances,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Putin is also ready for direct talks with Ukraine without preconditions to seek a peace deal, he added. “We realize that Washington wants to achieve quick progress, but we hope for understanding that the Ukrainian crisis settlement is far too complex to be done quickly,” Peskov said during his daily conference call with reporters. Trump has expressed frustration over the slow pace of progress in negoti- ations aimed at stopping the war. West- ern European leaders have accused Pu- tin of stalling while his forces seek to grab more Ukrainian land. Russia has captured nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s ter- ritory since Moscow’s forces launched a full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. Trump has long dismissed the war as a waste of lives and American taxpay- er money — a complaint he repeated Wednesday during his Cabinet meet- ing. That could spell an end to crucial military help for Ukraine and heavier economic sanctions on Russia. The U.S. State Department on Tues- day tried again to push both sides to move more quickly and warned that the U.S. could pull out of the negotiations if there’s no progress. “We are now at a time where concrete proposals need to be delivered by the two parties on how to end this conflict,” department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce quoted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as telling her. Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for an immediate and full 30- day ceasefire, making it conditional on a halt to Ukraine’s mobilization effort and Western arms supplies to Kyiv. Russian Foreign Minister Ser- gey Lavrov claimed Wednesday that Ukraine had accepted an unconditional truce only because it was being pushed back on the battlefield, where the larger Russian forces have the upper hand. Meanwhile, Ukrainian civilians have been killed or wounded in attacks every day this year, according to a UN report presented Tuesday in New York. The UN Human Rights Office said in the report that in the first three months of this year, it had verified 2,641 civil- ian casualties in Ukraine. That was al- most 900 more than during the same period last year. Also, between April 1-24, civilian cas- ualties in Ukraine were up 46 per cent from the same weeks in 2024, it said. The daily grind of the war shows no sign of letting up. A nighttime Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s second-lar- gest city, Kharkiv, wounded at least 45 civilians, Ukrainian officials said. Also Wednesday, the Ukrainian Sec- urity Service claimed its drones struck the Murom Instrument Engineering Plant in Russia’s Vladimir region over- night, causing five explosions and a fire at the military facility. The claim could not be independently verified. — The Associated Press TOP NEWS A3 THURSDAY MAY 1, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM U.S., Ukraine sign minerals deal as war rages Pact seen as tipping point as America grows frustrated with Russia’s intransigence SAMYA KULLAB, HANNA ARHIROVA AND AAMER MADHANI ANDREW HARNIK / GETTY IMAGES Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump held a tense standoff in the Oval Office in February. The two met again at Pope Francis’s funeral and talks resumed. ‘This is truly an equal and good international deal on joint investment in the development and restoration of Ukraine between the governments of the United States and Ukraine’ — Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal Man faces sex crime, animal cruelty charges A MAN facing sex crime charges is also charged with assaulting a police officer and cruelty to animals after he was arrested at a Winnipeg hotel. Members of the Manitoba integrated high-risk sex offender unit — which is composed of members of the Winnipeg Police Service and RCMP — and other officers went to the hotel in the Niakwa neighbourhood to arrest the man on April 7. He was wanted on outstanding warrants. The Free Press has confirmed the hotel was the Travelodge on Alpine Av- enue. Officers saw the man in the lobby with a large dog. He ran into a suite with the dog and tried to prevent police from entering, the WPS said in a news release Wednesday. “Once police accessed the room, he attempted to grab a knife in his waist- band. The dog then lunged at one of the officers, attempting to bite them,” the release said. Members of the WPS tactical sup- port team used “less-lethal munitions” on the man and the dog prior to arrest- ing the man. The man was taken to hospital, as- sessed and cleared. The dog was taken away by the city’s animal services agency and given medical attention. Police spokeswoman Const. Dani Mc- Kinnon said she could not specify what kind of less-lethal devices officers used, adding officers could have shot either foam or beanbag-type rounds meant to temporarily incapacitate suspects. Matthew Barry Stoesz, 42, was charged with sexual interference, breach of a prohibition order, failing to comply with an order or obligation, as- saulting a peace officer with a weapon, resisting a peace officer, possession of a weapon and carrying a concealed weapon, prohibited device or ammu- nition. One of the charges is related to Stoesz allegedly failing to register as a sex offender. McKinnon said the arrest is an ex- ample of the vital work of the high- risk sex offender unit, which works with other justice officials to monitor certain convicted sex criminals in the community. “Anytime we see the vulnerability of — whether it’s children, youth in gen- eral, a domestic partner and animals — exploited, it certainly speaks to the prolific nature of the offender and the need to protect those within our com- munity,” she said. Stoesz was detained in custody. Po- lice said they later determined more offences between 2022 and 2025 involv- ing a woman he was in a domestic rela- tionship with and abuse to dogs and cats in the man’s possession. Stoesz was arrested again Tuesday at the Headingley Correctional Centre and charged with sexual assault; for- cible confinement; assault; assault caus- ing bodily harm; assault by choking, suffocating or strangling; criminal ha- rassment; harassing communications; identity fraud; fraud over $5,000; theft over $5,000; failure to comply with a prohibition regarding children and two counts of causing unnecessary pain/ suffering to animals. He remains in custody. fpcity@freepress.mb.ca ;