U.S. and Ukraine near minerals deal after failed White House talks
The U.S. administration and Ukraine plan to sign a minerals agreement after Friday's Oval Office talks failed, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
President Donald Trump told his advisers he wanted to announce the agreement during his Tuesday evening address to Congress, sources told Reuters, cautioning that the deal had yet to be signed and could still change.
The White House, the Ukrainian presidential administration in Kyiv, and the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The agreement was put on hold Friday following a contentious Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to Zelensky’s swift departure from the White House. The Ukrainian leader had traveled to Washington to finalize the deal.
The agreement, originally set to be signed last week, did not contain explicit security guarantees for Ukraine but granted the U.S. access to revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources. It also stipulated that the Ukrainian government would allocate 50% of future state-owned natural resource revenues to an investment fund for reconstruction, jointly managed by the U.S. and Ukraine.
On Monday, Trump indicated that his administration remained open to signing the agreement, telling reporters Ukraine “should show more appreciation.”
“This country has stood by them through thick and thin,” Trump said. “We have given them far more than Europe has, and Europe should have contributed more than us.”
Later that evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he was ready to enter negotiations for a lasting peace and was prepared to sign the minerals and security agreement “at any time and in any format.”
Translation by Iurie Tataru
