Report: Deal on Ukraine Minerals Has Been Reached

Ukraine and American officials have apparently reached an agreement on a deal involving Ukraine's rare earth minerals. Ukrainian officials tell outlets including the AP and the Washington Post that the framework of a deal granting the US access to Ukraine's minerals, oil, and gas has been worked out. Last week, insiders said an "improved" deal was in the works after Volodymyr Zelensky rejected one that would demanded $500 billion in compensation for earlier US aid to Ukraine, with no future security guarantees.

According to the Post's sources, the new framework does not include the $500 billion figure. The real amount of US aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded three years ago is believed to be around $140 billion. The AP's sources say the deal now involves joint US-Ukrainian ownership of a fund that will include 50% of revenue from state-owned resources, including minerals. The sources say it still doesn't include security guarantees, but those could be worked out in a meeting between Zelensky and President Trump.

After reporters asked him about a mineral deal on Tuesday, Trump said he had heard that Zelensky is coming to the White House on Friday. "Certainly it's okay with me if he'd like to, and he would like to sign it together with me," he said, per the Post. "And I understand that's a big deal, very big deal." " We're helping the country through a very very big problem," he said, per the BBC, "but the American taxpayer now is going to get their money back plus." (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)