Reuters: US, Ukraine to sign mining deal tonight.
According to Reuters, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the United States to try to win the Trump administration’s support for Kyiv in its war with Russia in exchange for signing a mining agreement with Washington. However, the agreement was ultimately not signed due to a verbal dispute between Zelensky and Trump.
Accordingly, Reuters reported, citing four sources familiar with the matter, that the United States and Ukraine will sign a mining cooperation agreement tonight. The agreement is being finalized after its process was halted last week after a tense meeting at the White House.
According to the report, Donald Trump has told his advisers that he plans to announce the agreement in his speech to Congress tonight. This action comes after Trump suspended financial aid to Ukraine on Monday.
US access to Ukraine’s mineral resources in exchange for continued aid
Zelensky was initially hesitant about the deal, which would give the US access to Ukraine’s scarce mineral resources in exchange for continued aid to the country.
He was ready to sign the deal last week; however, Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, who was on hand to press him in front of news cameras during a White House meeting, pushed the deal back.
The final details of the deal, which are expected to be announced tonight, have not yet been finalized.
Ukraine plans to receive security guarantees from the US in exchange for economic concessions under the deal. However, the Trump administration has repeatedly stressed that Ukraine will never join NATO and that it is European countries that should ultimately send peacekeeping forces outside of the NATO alliance to the country.