Ukraine, US may sign minerals deal on April 24, Trump says
Ukraine and the U.S. may sign a minerals deal on April 24, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on April 17.
"We have a minerals deal, which I guess is going to be signed on Thursday, next Thursday," Trump said during a press conference with Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the White House.
"And I assume they're going to live up to the deal," he added.
Trump's statement came nearly an hour after President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian and American sides were holding talks on the deal and a related memorandum could be signed online on April 17.
Earlier this week, U.S. and Ukrainian delegates held consultations on the deal in Washington. The sides have made "significant progress," Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said.
"We have now agreed with the U.S. side to affirm this positive development by a relevant memorandum of intent — we are preparing a formal conclusion of the deal in the near future," she said.
According to earlier reporting, the U.S. proposal would grant extensive control to a joint investment fund managed by Washington, with no offer of security guarantees in return. The Trump administration has framed the deal as a way to recoup the billions of dollars in military and financial aid provided to Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Bloomberg reported earlier on April 16 that the U.S. has softened its "maximalist" demands, lowering the payback it seeks for the provided aid from $300 billion to $100 billion. While the latter sum is closer to Kyiv's estimates of the supplied assistance, Zelensky has stressed that Ukraine does not see the aid sent by the Biden administration as debt.
The original framework agreement was expected to be signed during Zelensky's visit to Washington on Feb. 28, but the plan fell apart following a heated Oval Office dispute with Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance. Zelensky left without finalizing the deal.
Ukraine has since hired the American-British law firm Hogan Lovells to advise on the negotiations.
Read also: Trump's Ukraine peace push is really about business — and Putin knows it
We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
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