A senior Ukrainian official has stated that Ukraine and the United States have reached an agreement on critical minerals and other resources.
While Ukraine has stated that it has agreed to the deal, President Donald Trump has yet to confirm that the US has agreed, instead stating that he has heard Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Washington, D.C., to finalize the deal on Friday and that “it’s OK with me if he’d like to.”
“And he would like to sign it together with me,” she said. “And I understand that’s a big deal, a very big deal.”
Later, he admitted, “We’ve pretty much negotiated our deal on raw earth.”
According to officials familiar with the negotiations, the United States and Ukraine are 99.9% committed to the agreement. Still, the deal will not be finalized until the presidents sign it, which is expected as soon as Friday, when they meet.
As recently as Monday, Trump reiterated that access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals would be required to secure a deal involving the country’s continued support for Ukraine. Trump referred to them as a “security” against investments that the United States has already made and may make in the future, though his claims about the amount of aid provided to date have been widely disputed.
Trump claimed that the United States has spent $350 billion on Ukraine, but he did not specify where he got that figure.
According to government resources, Congress has appropriated $174 billion in aid to Ukraine since the war began in 2022.
“That is why we must reach an agreement with Ukraine on critical minerals, rare earths, and other matters of security. And I believe that is happening. During a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, Trump stated, “I believe we have made significant progress.” The two leaders met to discuss a path forward for resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which entered its third year this month.
The senior official also confirmed to ABC News that Zelenskyy will visit Washington on Friday.
