KYIV: Ukraine has agreed on the terms of a minerals deal with the United States and could sign it on Friday (Feb 28), officials said, a move Kyiv hopes will lead to future security guarantees from Washington.
US President Donald Trump, in part of a dramatic shift of policy that includes reaching out to Russia, had demanded that Ukraine give access to its rare earth minerals to compensate for the billions of dollars of wartime aid it received under Joe Biden.
The deal would see the United States jointly develop Ukraine's mineral wealth, with revenues going to a newly created fund that would be "joint for Ukraine and America", a senior Ukrainian source told AFP on the condition of anonymity late Tuesday.
The source said the draft of the deal included a reference to "security", but did not explicitly set out the United States' commitments - one of Kyiv's prior demands for an agreement.
"There is a general clause that says America will invest in a stable and prosperous sovereign Ukraine, that it works for a lasting peace, and that America supports efforts to guarantee security."
"Now government officials are working on the details," the source said, adding that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could sign it on a trip to Washington as early as Friday, a timetable confirmed by Trump.
"I hear that. I hear that he's coming on Friday," Trump told reporters at the White House.
"He would like to sign it together with me, and I understand that - it's a big deal, a very big deal," Trump said.
Trump has upended US foreign policy since taking office last month, opening dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin while making threats against Washington's traditional allies.
The United States sided with Russia twice on Monday at the United Nations, as they sought to avoid any condemnation of Moscow's invasion of its neighbour three years ago.
Zelenskyy had earlier baulked at Trump's demands to give the United States US$500 billion worth of valuable minerals used in aerospace, electric vehicles and other technologies - a sum far above the official figure of US$60 billion in US military aid to Ukraine since the invasion.
The Ukrainian source said Washington had cut the US$500 billion reference.