Ukraine and US agree on minerals deal, Ukrainian officials say

Ukraine and the United States reached an economic deal that would include the exploitations of Ukraine's minerals, according to three senior Ukrainian officials.

One of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Kyiv hopes the deal would improve its relations with Washington, and would ensure long-term support from the US that Ukraine urgently needs.

They added that plans are being drawn up for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to travel to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump.

Responding to reporters' questions about the Ukrainian leaders' potential visit, Trump said “I hear that. I hear that he is coming on Friday. Certainly it's okay with me, if he’d like to, and he would like to sign it together with me."

Last week, Trump labelled the Ukrainian leader a "dictator," and warned Zelenskyy that he should reach a peace deal sooner than later, or "he is not going to have a country left."

The US had previously presented a deal that would allow the US access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals in return for support from Washington, but Zelenskyy had turned down the deal as it did not offer enough security guarantees.

"It is important that we will discuss formats of the security guarantees for Ukraine, first of all from Europe and, undoubtedly, we need the United States," Zelenskyy said at a forum of government officials in Kyiv on Sunday.

Although the new deal also reportedly lacks explicit security guarantees, Ukrainian officials claimed it offers more favourable terms than prior. One of the officials claimed that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees when they meet.

Speaking to the Financial Times on Tuesday, Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said “the minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture."