Ukraine and the U.S. have reached an agreement on a framework for a broad economic deal that includes access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals, according to three senior Ukrainian officials. The agreement, which could be signed as early as Friday, aims to ensure the continued flow of U.S. military support to Ukraine.
Plans are being made for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to travel to Washington to meet with the U.S. President. The deal does not include a contentious proposal to give the U.S. $500 billion worth of profits from Ukraine's rare earth minerals as compensation for wartime assistance.
Instead, the agreement involves joint ownership of a fund, with Ukraine committing to contribute 50 percent of future proceeds from state-owned resources. The deal is seen as positive by Ukrainian officials, who noted better terms of investments and favorable amendments secured by Kyiv.
However, the agreement does not include security guarantees, a topic that the two presidents are expected to discuss when they meet. The progress in negotiations follows a period of sharp rhetoric between Trump and Zelenskyy over differences in the proposed deal.
Last week, Zelenskyy objected to a deal pushed by the U.S. Treasury Secretary and Vice President due to the absence of security guarantees. Despite initial disagreements, significant progress was made during a recent visit to Ukraine by Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia.
The economic deal was initially proposed by Zelenskyy last fall as part of efforts to strengthen Ukraine's position in future negotiations with Moscow.
