Donald Trump is “confident” a deal on critical minerals will be signed with Ukraine, the White House said, a move that could bolster US support for Kyiv as the US president grows frustrated over delays in clinching a ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“It’s not just good for the United States to recoup the billions of tax dollars we’ve spent and onshore some of those critical minerals, but certainly it’s good for the Ukrainian people when this war is over, to rebuild their country,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday.
“He wants Ukraine to sign that deal, and he’s confident that they will,” she said.
Ukrainian and US negotiators are aiming to sign the minerals deal, which will govern postwar plans to exploit the country’s mineral deposits and rebuild its infrastructure, as soon as this week, a person familiar with the matter said.
Washington and Kyiv are still trying to iron out some legal questions, including ensuring the text of the deal wouldn’t conflict with Ukraine’s prospects to join the European Union, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity about the sensitive negotiations.
The US Treasury Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
US and Ukrainian officials signed a memorandum of intent earlier in April, and they continue to hash out the technical details of the accord, which would grant the US first claim on profits transferred into a special reconstruction investment fund that would be controlled by Washington. A previous attempt to clinch the minerals deal fell through earlier this year after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy clashed with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office.
Both sides overcame a key hurdle last week, when they agreed that the previously provided US aid to Kyiv won’t be calculated into the future economic partnership deal between the two countries, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Sunday.
The push for the US-Ukraine minerals deal comes as the White House struggles to get Russia to agree to end Moscow’s three-year-long war on its neighbor. Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to make maximalist demands, insisting that Russia must take control of four regions of Ukraine it doesn’t fully occupy as part of any agreement to end his war, Bloomberg News reported earlier.
Leavitt reiterated that Trump was getting frustrated with the difficulty in both Ukraine and Russia agreeing to a peace deal, but that “he remains optimistic that we can get this done.”
With assistance from Piotr Skolimowski, Daryna Krasnolutska, Daniel Flatley and Hadriana Lowenkron.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
