White House says it is ‘ready to sign this afternoon’ as US and Ukraine near agreement on minerals deal
30 April 2025, 21:54
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US is ‘ready to sign’ the minerals deal if Ukraine is, as Kyiv sends a minister to Washington.
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Standing next to US President Donald Trump, Bessent said Ukraine was trying to make ‘last-minute changes’ to the proposed agreement, but ‘nothing changed on our side’.
Trump interrupted Bessent to repeat his familiar criticism of former president Joe Biden’s spending on the war, using figures that have long been debunked by experts and EU leaders.
The US president was speaking after a cabinet meeting marking the first 100 days of his second term as president.
He said he “didn't want to make a complicated deal" because "Ukraine doesn't have very much money".
But "we've made a deal where our money is secure," he added.
He also said the US presence in Ukraine would be positive, and "will keep a lot of bad actors out of the country".
The minerals deal would see the US mine Ukraine for precious minerals and rare earths, in what Trump has described as ‘getting our money back’, referencing US military support and aid for the country since 2022.
“As you know, we're looking for rare earth all the time," Trump said. "They have a lot, and we made a deal, so we can start digging and doing what we have to do. It's also good for them."
"Soon, they're going to honour the deal," he added. "We haven't really seen the fruits of that deal yet. I suspect we will."
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said he hoped the final cracks in the deal would be ironed out soon, hoping to have it signed in the next 24 hours’.
Smyhal said that part of the agreement is for Ukraine to maintain control over its natural resources, and that the deal is only concerned with future licenses and permits for subsoil use.
Once Ukraine and the US sign the agreement, it has to be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament before it can come into force.It comes after Russia seemed to scupper hopes for a ceasefire between them and Ukraine, telling Donald Trump the war is “too complicated” to resolve quickly.
Speaking on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said a ceasefire in Ukraine will not be agreed soon, despite Russia being “open to peace.”
What Donald Trump has done during the first 100 days of his second term
The White House continues to seek a deal between Russia and Ukraine after Donald Trump promised to end the war in “one day.”
"We understand that Washington is willing to achieve a quick success in this process, but at the same time we hope for understanding that the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is too complicated [a process] to be done overnight, there are lots of details and lots of small things that need to be tackled before the settlement," Peskov said.
He added that the Kremlin is willing to speak directly with Ukraine, despite being “grateful” to the United States for trying to mediate the deal.
"A peace deal should be done with Ukraine and not with America,” he said.“America is trying to mediate and we are grateful... a couple of days ago President Putin renewed his readiness for direct negotiations with the Ukrainians without any initial conditions. This readiness is still active," he added.