Donald Trump hinted Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy could travel to Washington to sign the deal on Friday.

By Seb Starcevic

Ukraine and the United States have agreed on the terms of a minerals deal and could sign it this week.

Washington and Kyiv “agreed on the text of the deal and today the Ukrainian government plans to recommend the deal for signing,” an official in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office confirmed to POLITICO on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday hinted Zelenskyy could travel to Washington to sign the deal this week, telling reporters: “I hear that he’s coming on Friday. Certainly, it’s OK with me if he’d like to.”

Ukrainian newspaper Economic Pravda cited a version of the deal dated Feb. 24 which would see Kyiv pay 50 percent of the revenues from its state-owned natural resources into a fund that would invest in Ukraine.

Notably, the agreement lacks American security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv was reportedly pushing for.

But it also does not mention the $500 billion figure Trump was demanding in compensation for Washington’s support for Kyiv in fending off Moscow’s invasion.

When asked what Ukraine would receive in exchange for the minerals deal, Trump referred to aid already supplied by the U.S., along with “lots of … military equipment and the right to fight on.”

Asked how long the U.S. would continue supplying weapons to Kyiv, Trump said: “It could go forward for a while, and maybe until we have a deal with Russia.”

Zelenskyy had previously refused to sign two draft agreements proposed by Trump’s administration, saying the terms — which the New York Times reported included Kyiv giving up minerals, oil and gas revenues, plus earnings from ports and other infrastructure to the tune of $500 billion — were too harsh.

“I will not sign what 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to pay back,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference Sunday.

But Trump insisted on Monday that a “final deal” is “very close” and that it will include “rare earths and various other things.”

Ukraine holds huge deposits of critical elements and minerals, from lithium to titanium, which are vital to manufacturing modern technologies and are highly coveted in the global race for resources.

Source: Politico.eu