President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington, DC in the coming days, after the United States and Ukraine agreed to terms on a deal over natural resources and reconstruction, according to a Ukrainian official.
Negotiations have been ongoing for days over a deal that could grant the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as part of wider negotiations to end Russia’s invasion, as well as US involvement in a reconstruction fund for Ukraine. The Ukrainian official said the terms were agreed after “everything unacceptable was taken out of the text and it is now more clearly spelt out how this agreement will contribute to Ukraine’s security and peace.”
Details of the agreement are not yet known, but a major sticking point had been a demand from the Trump administration to a $500 billion share of Ukraine’s rare earths and other minerals in exchange for the aid the US had already provided Kyiv, which was previously rejected by Zelensky.
The US has not confirmed whether the terms of a deal have been agreed.
“I hear that (Zelensky is) coming on Friday. Certainly it’s OK with me if he’d like to, and he would like to sign it together with me. And I understand that’s a big deal, very big deal,” US President Donald Trump said from the Oval Office on Tuesday. Asked what Ukraine would receive in the mineral deal, Trump said: “$350 billion and lots of equipment, military equipment, and the right to fight on.”
“We’ve pretty much negotiated our deal on rare earth and various other things,” Trump told reporters, adding that “we’ll be looking to” future security for Ukraine “later on.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Trump said. “I spoke with Russia about it. They didn’t seem to have a problem with it. So I think they understand … once we do this, they’re not going back in.”
Credit: CNN