US and Ukraine to sign agreement on rare earth metals "shortly" – Trump
US President Donald Trump said that he would sign an agreement with Ukraine on rare earth resources "shortly".
He said this during a speech at the White House, Sky News quoted him as saying, Censor.NET reports.
"One of the things we're doing is signing a deal with Ukraine on rare earth minerals, which have tremendous value. It will be very shortly, in the near future," he said.
Yesterday, the White House said it had "moved on" from the deal, though later sources said this was not true.
Trump also commented on the war in Ukraine.
"We're doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia," he says, referencing calls with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"We would love to see that [war] come to an end and I think we're doing pretty well in that regard."
He says he believes "we'll get a deal done".
Minerals agreement with the US
As a reminder, Trump has said he wants to sign a $500 billion deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on access to rare earth resources and natural gas in Ukraine in exchange for security guarantees in any potential peace settlement.
President Zelenskyy said that the agreement with the US on minerals would be signed at the ministerial level when ready and subject to guarantees. Currently, this document is not ready to protect Ukraine's interests.
Later, Trump said that Ukraine had undermined the rare earth metals deal. The agreement was needed so that the United States could recover the money spent on supporting Ukraine.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has given Ukraine an "improved" draft of the minerals agreement that "complies with Ukrainian law."
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that if the US wants to see specific numbers in the minerals agreement, then according to Ukrainian law, ratification by the Verkhovna Rada will be required.
On 25 February, the Financial Times reported that Ukraine and the United States had agreed on the terms of a deal on minerals, and Kyiv was ready to sign the document.
On February 26, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the signing of the minerals agreement with the United States.
The agreement was supposed to be signed on February 28 at the White House, but due to a dispute between Trump and Zelenskyy, it did not happen.
