The US continues to occupy a leading position among buyers of Ukrainian recycled pig iron: in the first half of 2025, the US market accounted for more than 77% of foreign exchange earnings from exports of this product.
According to data from the State Customs Service, Ukraine increased its pig iron exports by 47.5% in volume terms in January–June, to 883,200 tons, compared with 598,900 tons in the same period of 2024. In monetary terms, exports grew by 54.6% to $349.4 million.
The main destinations for exports in the first half of the year were:
The US — 77.36% of export revenue;
Italy — 11.96%;
Turkey — 4.91%.
Earlier, on March 12, 2025, the administration of US President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Ukrainian metal products, with the exception of cast iron. This allowed Ukrainian exporters to maintain their competitive position in the US market and, as statistics show, increase supplies.
At the end of 2024, Ukraine exported 1.29 million tons of processed cast iron worth $500.3 million, of which 72.6% went to the US. Thus, in 2025, the US not only retained its status as a key trading partner in this segment, but also strengthened its importance for the Ukrainian metallurgical sector.
Oksana Markarova will be recalled from Washington as part of measures to strengthen relations with Trump’s team.
Volodymyr Zelensky is replacing Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, who has been heavily criticized by leading Republicans, as part of a diplomatic reshuffle aimed at strengthening relations with the Trump administration.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga confirmed on Wednesday that Oksana Markarova will be recalled from Washington after four years in the post. He described her as “extremely effective, charismatic and one of our most successful ambassadors.”
He indicated that several high-ranking ambassadors in G7 and G20 countries would also be transferred, telling Ukrainian radio: “Every diplomat has a rotation cycle.”
The diplomatic reshuffle comes at a critical moment in the war. Russian troops are advancing on a 600-kilometer front, and their pace has accelerated in recent weeks. A Kremlin spokesman said, “We are advancing.”
Russian combat units have approached the crossing into the Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time.
Late on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, Russia launched its largest air strike since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. It involved a record number of 728 Shahed drones, as well as 13 cruise and ballistic missiles. Most of them were shot down.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson is among the Republican figures who have criticized Markarova, accusing her of supporting the Democratic Party and its candidate Kamala Harris ahead of last November’s presidential election.
In February, she was photographed with her head in her hands during Vladimir Zelensky’s disastrous meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
After Zelensky visited a shell factory in Pennsylvania last September, calls for her resignation were heard.
Markarova organized the visit and did not invite a single Republican, Johnson said at the time.
Ukrainian officials deny any bias, but acknowledge that the ambassador previously had a good relationship with the Biden administration and was close to Victoria Nuland, then deputy secretary of state for political affairs.
Zelensky and Trump discussed Markarova’s resignation during a phone call last Friday, which the Ukrainian president called the most constructive to date.
On Tuesday, Trump expressed growing dissatisfaction with Vladimir Putin and announced the resumption of US arms deliveries to Kyiv. His statement followed a week-long pause, apparently ordered by US Defense Secretary Pete Hageett.
The shipment includes Patriot interceptor missiles and other high-precision weapons. It is unclear how many units will be transferred. The American news site Axios reported that 10 missiles will be delivered — a negligible amount at a time when Moscow has sharply intensified its bombing of Ukrainian cities.
The night raid targeted the northwestern city of Lutsk. At least six civilians were killed and 39 wounded in several other regions of the country, including Kharkiv and Donetsk in the northeast and east, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south.
According to local authorities, a one-year-old boy named Dmitry was killed in the village of Pravdino in the Kherson region when Russians struck his home with drones. The boy lived with his great-grandmother.
One of the possible successors to Markarova in Washington is Igor Zhovka, deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s administration.
Zhovka’s immediate superior is Andriy Yermak, whom many consider the most influential person in Ukrainian politics after Zelensky.
Other candidates include Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and Olga Stefanishyna, who is Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice.
There is growing optimism in Kyiv that Trump’s shift toward Russia earlier this year has been halted, if not completely reversed. One former Ukrainian official attributed this transformation to Jonathan Powell, Britain’s national security adviser and an experienced negotiator.
Powell played an important role in mending Zelensky’s tense relationship with Washington after the Oval Office incident.
He advised the Ukrainian government to avoid confrontation with the US president and take his words at face value.
According to the official, this approach, known as “strategic patience,” has begun to bear fruit.
Zelensky agreed to US proposals for a 30-day ceasefire, repeatedly praised Trump’s leadership, and signed an agreement giving American investors access to Ukraine’s valuable natural resources.
On Wednesday, he met with Pope Francis in Rome ahead of a two-day international conference organized to help Ukraine with post-war reconstruction. Zelensky said they discussed the return of Ukrainian children and civilians abducted by Russia, as well as the Vatican’s offer to facilitate peace talks.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will attend the conference. During a recent phone call with Trump, Merz reportedly offered to buy Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems from the US and send them to Ukraine.
Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, will also arrive in Rome, where he is likely to hold talks on arms supplies with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
G7 countries have agreed with the United States to exempt American and British companies from additional taxes, Reuters reported on Saturday.
In particular, the group has created a “side-by-side” system in response to the US administration’s agreement to withdraw its proposal to introduce a tax in response to Section 899 of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, according to a statement from Canada, which chairs the G7.
The US Treasury Department also said that the “parallel system” agreed with the G7 could preserve important achievements within an inclusive framework in the fight against tax base erosion and profit shifting.
“Today’s agreement provides much-needed certainty and stability for these companies after they expressed their concerns,” said Finance Minister Rachel Reeves, adding that work must continue to combat aggressive tax planning and tax avoidance.
The Velta Group, which has assets for the extraction of titanium-bearing ores in Novomyrhorod (Kirovohrad region), has received its third patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its innovative Velta Ti Process technology.
According to a press release on Monday, the new patent confirms the possibility of obtaining high-quality titanium dioxide (TiO₂), a key material for the further production of titanium powder using the Velta Ti Process technology, as well as commercial products based on titanium, iron, calcium, and nitrogen.
It should be noted that Velta Holding US Inc. has obtained three Ukrainian and three US patents since 2020.
Velta Holding US Inc. is a group of companies engaged in the full cycle of titanium production, from the extraction of titanium raw materials through innovation to the manufacture of final metal products.
Velta LLC is a Ukrainian company that is part of the group and is a manufacturer of titanium raw materials and the only private Ukrainian company that has built a titanium mining complex from scratch in the Kirovohrad region. With over 15 years of experience in the mining sector, the company holds 2% of the global titanium market and has partners and customers in Europe and the US.
Velta Holding also includes the Velta RD Titan research and development center and Velta Medical, a manufacturer of custom titanium implants.
Velta Holding LLC is wholly owned by VKF Velta LLC. The ultimate beneficiaries are three individuals: Andriy Brodsky (60%), Vadym Moskalenko (20%), and Vitaliy Malakhov (20%).
PATENT, PROCESSING, TECHNOLOGY, TITANIUM, US, USA, VELTA
Julia Davis has been appointed the new ambassador of the United States to Ukraine, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce announced during a briefing on Thursday.
Davis is currently serving as the US ambassador to the Republic of Cyprus.
Prior to her appointment as ambassador to Cyprus, Julia Davis served as Special Envoy for Belarus in Vilnius, Lithuania.
In 2020, she was confirmed as the first US ambassador to the Republic of Belarus since 2008. Previously, Davis served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Western European and European Union affairs in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, as well as deputy permanent representative of the US Mission to NATO.
The government has made the decisions necessary to sign an agreement between Ukraine and the United States on the establishment of the Recovery Investment Fund, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“The government has made the decisions necessary to sign an agreement between Ukraine and the United States on the establishment of the Recovery Investment Fund,” Shmyhal wrote in a telegram.
According to him, the agreement is based on five key principles.
– Equality. The fund is created on a 50/50 basis and both parties have equal voting rights.
– Retention of control. Ukraine retains full control over subsoil, infrastructure and natural resources.
– New investments, not debts. The agreement does not provide for any debt obligations.
– Guaranteed investors and buyers. The Fund will invest in projects and guarantee commercial purchases of products on a take-or-pay basis.
– Consistency with the European integration course. The agreement will not pose an obstacle to Ukraine’s EU membership.
Shmyhal noted that the Fund will be filled with contributions from the United States and Ukraine. The Fund’s profits will be reinvested exclusively in Ukraine.
“Thanks to this agreement, we will be able to attract significant resources for recovery, start economic growth, and receive the latest technologies from partners and a strategic investor in the United States,” the Prime Minister concluded.
