WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Thursday (Mar 20) the United States will sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine shortly and that his efforts to achieve a peace deal for the country were going "pretty well" after his talks this week with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Trump made the comments at a White House event after signing an order to increase US production of critical minerals.
"We're doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia. And one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine."
Trump referred to his discussions this week with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
"We would love to see that come to an end, and I think we're doing pretty well in that regard," Trump said.
"So hopefully we’d save thousands of people a week from dying. That's what it's all about. They're dying so unnecessarily, and I believe we'll get it done. We'll see what happens, but I believe we'll get it done."
Ukraine and the US said this month they had agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine's critical mineral resources, which Trump sees as a means to pay back the US for its assistance to Kyiv.
Efforts to seal the deal stumbled after a disastrous White House meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy at the end of last month.
Trump and Zelenskyy agreed on Wednesday to work together to end Russia's war with Ukraine, in what the White House described as a "fantastic" one-hour phone call, their first conversation since their Oval Office shouting match that resulted in a short-term cutoff in US military aid and intelligence to Kyiv.
It was unclear if the deal had changed. An earlier version did not include the explicit security guarantees Ukraine has sought but gave the US access to revenues from Ukraine's natural resources.
It also envisaged the Ukrainian government contributing 50 per cent of monetized amounts for state-owned natural resources to a US-Ukraine-managed reconstruction investment fund.
Asked how the current version of the minerals deal differs from the earlier draft, a senior US official said it was "more detailed and comprehensive", declining to elaborate.
Ukraine's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In Brussels on Thursday, European Union leaders said they would continue to support Ukraine, but did not immediately endorse a call by Zelenskyy to approve a package of at least €5 billion for artillery purchases.
