Zelenskyy to sign minerals deal with the US in 'very short term', senior Trump official says

Ukrainian President previously rejected proposal, which would give half the profits to the US

White House National Security Adviser Michael Waltz speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. EPA

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to sign a minerals agreement with the US in “the very short term”, White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said on Friday amid signs of cooling tension between Washington and Kyiv.

Mr Waltz said the Ukrainian leader would sign the deal granting the US access to its deposits of aluminium, gallium, tritium and other rare-earth minerals.

“Here's the bottom line, President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term,” he told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington. “And that is good for Ukraine.”

Mr Zelenskyy on Wednesday had rejected a US offer for $500 billion in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay the US for its military assistance, saying Washington had supplied nowhere near that sum and that the agreement did not come with sufficient security guarantees.

But on Friday, Mr Zelenskyy's office said the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, discussed “aligning positions” in bilateral relations in a call with Mr Waltz.

President Donald Trump was later asked how close the US and Ukraine are to signing a deal.

"I think they want it. They feel good about it, it's significant. It's a big deal, but they want it, and it keeps us in that country, and they're very happy about it, but it's how we get our money back," Mr Trump told reporters.

"We're going to either sign a deal, or there's going to be a lot of problems with [Ukraine]. So we're going to sign a deal to get security, because we have to do that. We're spending our treasure. They're spending their blood."

Keith Kellogg, Mr Trump's envoy for the Ukraine war, praised Mr Zelenskyy as being a “courageous leader”. The remark struck a more conciliatory tone than comments this week from Mr Trump, who at one point called the Ukrainian President a “dictator”.

Washington and Moscow held talks in Saudi Arabia this week aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, which excluded Kiev and Europe. This marked a stark reversal of US foreign policy nearly three years since Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

Mr Trump, who took office last month, campaigned on a promise to quickly end the war and cut US military aid for Ukraine. He says the US has grossly overspent compared to European allies who could be more affected by the war, given their geographic proximity.

Mr Trump has pledged that the US should be able to recoup American aid that was disbursed under former president Joe Biden's administration, saying American taxpayers deserve to be paid back.

“I've had very good talks with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, and I've had not such good talks with Ukraine. They don't have any cards, but they play it tough. But we're not going to let this continue,” Mr Trump told Republican governors on Friday.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Congress has passed five bills allocating about $175 billion in aid to the war-torn country. Mr Trump has claimed the US has sent $350 billion in aid to Ukraine.

“I think President Trump is very upset at President Zelenskyy, and in some cases, rightfully so,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview aired on Friday.

Mr Rubio said the minerals agreement would be a “joint venture” with Ukraine. “Not because we're trying to steal from your country, because we think that's actually a security guarantee,” he said.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump blamed Mr Zelenskyy for starting the war with Russia. He said Mr Zelenskyy had misused American funding and taken advantage of Mr Biden.

US President Donald Trump said he had 'very good talks' with Russia's Vladimir Putin, right, and 'not such good talks' with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. AFP