US minerals deal could be signed by next week, Trump says

President Trump says he is 'not a fan' of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on April 17. AP

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US and Ukraine would sign a deal on critical minerals next week, in a step expected to keep Kyiv in good favour as the White House seeks to broker a quick ceasefire deal with Russia.

“We have a minerals deal, which I guess is going to be signed on [April 24] ,” Mr Trump said, alongside Italian Prime Minster Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office. “And I assume they’re going to live up to the deal.”

The announcement puts the agreement – which fell through after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed with Mr Trump in the Oval Office – back on track, and suggests both sides have agreed to the contours of the accord governing postwar plans to exploit the country’s mineral deposits and rebuild its infrastructure.

Mr Trump has vacillated between blaming Moscow and Kyiv for failing to end the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022. He has demanded a joint US-Ukraine development deal as compensation for the weapons and other aid the US provided under his predecessor, Joe Biden.

The partnership agreement would grant the US first claim on profits transferred into a special reconstruction investment fund that would be controlled by Washington. In negotiations, Kyiv has pressed for better terms and refused to recognise the past US aid as debt.

After a round of negotiations in Washington, the Trump administration reduced its estimate for the assistance the US provided to Kyiv since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion from $300 billion to about $100 billion, sources say. This brings it closer to Ukraine’s own estimate of more than $90 billion.

Mr Trump backtracked from recent comments in which he said Mr Zelenskyy was to blame for the war in Ukraine – while still criticising the Ukrainian leader.

“I don’t hold Zelenskyy responsible but I’m not exactly thrilled with the fact that war started,” he said. He added that he was not happy with Mr Zelenskyy because of the death toll of the war.

“I wouldn’t say he’s done the greatest job,” he said. “I’m not a fan.”

Still, Mr Trump said, his attention was on getting Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to end the fighting.

“I’m trying to get him to stop because, as you know, Russia’s a lot bigger,” he said.