Memorandum on Ukraine-US minerals deal could be signed Thursday

KYIV: Ukraine and the US could sign online a memorandum of intent on Thursday on the minerals deal currently being negotiated by the two countries, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

President Donald Trump has pushed for a deal that would allow the United States to have privileged access to Ukraine’s natural resources and critical minerals in what he casts as repayment for military aid provided by Washington to Ukraine under the previous presidency of Joe Biden.

The Ukrainian delegation traveled to Washington at the end of last week for negotiations after the Trump administration offered a new, more expansive deal. The initial framework agreement that was agreed to has never been signed.

“This is a memorandum of intent. And we have positive, constructive intentions,” Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.

He added that the offer to sign the memorandum before the comprehensive deal, which would require ratification in the Ukrainian parliament, had come from the US side.

Ukraine’s economy minister has said Kyiv and Washington made significant progress while discussing the agreement, and the memorandum is the first stage to record this.

UKRAINE–US DEAL

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (March 4) he received a letter from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which the Ukrainian leader expressed willingness to come to the negotiating table over the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump said Ukraine was ready to sign a minerals deal with the US, which Washington says is crucial to secure continued US backing for Ukraine’s defense.

Why a US minerals deal with Ukraine won’t deter Russian aggression?

Four sources told Reuters that the Trump administration and Ukraine plan to sign the deal in return for military aid, which Trump has paused. But later on Tuesday US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News, “There is no signing planned,” according to a post on X by a Fox reporter.