The deal, signed on Wednesday, will give the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and fund investment in Ukraine's reconstruction.
The agreement will show the "Russian leadership that there is no daylight between the Ukrainian people and the American people, between our goals", Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network.
"The American people don't make any money if Ukrainians don't prosper. So now we are fully aligned in terms of economics. And again, I think this is a strong signal to the Russian leadership, and it gives President Trump the ability to now negotiate with Russia on even a stronger basis," he said.
"This is a total economic partnership. This isn't just rare earth, it's infrastructure, it's energy. So there's the opportunity here for both sides to really win," Bessent added.
The accord establishes a joint investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction as Trump tries to secure a peace settlement in Russia's three-year-old war in Ukraine.
It was signed in Washington after months of sometimes fraught negotiations, with uncertainty persisting until the last moment with word of an eleventh-hour snag.
The signing comes two months after a different but similar agreement was derailed in a tense Oval Office meeting involving Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Trump has long criticised Zelenskiy, saying he does not "have the cards" to win the war and blaming him for prolonging the killing by not giving up Crimea, but in recent days has also rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he was complicating negotiations with "very bad timing" in launching deadly strikes on Kyiv.
Trump said the deal "in theory" meant the US would get more from Ukraine than it contributed.
"I wanted to be protected," he said on NewsNation, adding he did not want to look "foolish" by not getting money back for the investment.
For Ukraine, the agreement is considered key to ensuring its access to US military aid.
"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," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
Ukraine's economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, flew to Washington to help finalise the deal.
"Together with the United States, we are creating the fund that will attract global investment to our country," she posted on X.
The US has sought access to more than 20 raw materials deemed strategically critical to its interests such as titanium, uranium and lithium, and non-minerals such as oil and natural gas.
Shmyhal said the deal would establish an equal partnership between the two countries and last 10 years.
The deal must be ratified by Ukraine's parliament before it can take effect.
The negotiations come amid rocky progress in Washington's push to stop the war.
Putin backs calls for a ceasefire before 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 told reporters.
Putin was also ready for direct talks with Ukraine without preconditions, he said.
Trump has expressed frustration over the slow pace of peace negotiations, while European leaders accuse Putin of stalling while his forces seek to grab more Ukrainian land.
Putin has announced a three-day ceasefire for May 8-10, when Russia will hold celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
The Kremlin has said that Russia has enormous mineral wealth itself and has held out the prospect of potential co-operation deals with the US in the Arctic and elsewhere. It has yet to comment on the Ukrainian minerals deal.
