Report: U.S. and Ukraine Are Nearing a Mining Transaction Agreement
According to a person familiar with the situation, the White House and Ukraine have made great strides towards an agreement that would strengthen the long-term ties between Kyiv and Washington and grant the U.S. access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. The development in the negotiations follows a heated exchange of words this week between President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on their divergent positions on the issue.
During a visit to Kyiv last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed a deal that Zelenskyy said he refused to sign. Days later, during a meeting with Vice President JD Vance in Munich, the Ukrainian leader protested once more, this time over the American proposal’s lack of security guarantees. Earlier Friday, Trump blasted the Ukrainians of wasting Bessent’s time and reiterated his criticism of Zelenskyy’s handling of the three-year conflict.
However, the person familiar with the continuing negotiations who was not authorised to comment publicly said that during Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who visited Ukraine for three days this week, the two sides made great progress.
“The still-unfinished agreement came into focus over three days of meetings in Ukraine between Kellogg and Zelenskyy and other top-ranking Ukrainian officials, while Trump rattled the Ukrainians,” the individual said. According to the source, Zelenskyy was joined in the discussions by Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of the Rada, and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
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