Trump mineral deal imminent, would ‘recoup’ Ukraine war costs

WASHINGTON — A deal that would see Ukraine turn over some revenue from its mineral resources to the U.S. appeared imminent on Tuesday, following a public pressure campaign on the war-stricken country from President Donald Trump.

Trump has forcefully argued that Kyiv should repay the U.S. for money it spent defending Ukraine in the three years since Russia invaded. And in the Oval Office, he indicated a deal was almost done.

“We’ve pretty much negotiated our deal on raw Earth and various other things,” he said.

Trump did not disclose what would be in the finished deal. The Ukrainian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. leader suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be in Washington to sign a minerals agreement on Friday.

“He would like to sign it together with me,” Trump said. “And I understand that’s a big deal.”

Several outlets reported on Tuesday evening that Ukraine had agreed to a rare minerals deal, the details of which were unknown. The Washington Post reported that the U.S. and Ukraine had reached “a framework” for a deal that “would grant Washington partial access to Ukraine’s minerals, oil and gas.”

Trump has said he wants to “recoup” the money America has spent.

Zelenskyy rejected an earlier Trump proposal, which would have been equivalent to $500 billion worth of mineral rights. The amount far exceeded what the U.S. has provided Ukraine in military and financial assistance since the war’s outset.

That proposal did not include security guarantees for the U.S. to continue providing military protection to Ukraine after the war. It was not immediately clear if the new proposal did.

Congress has appropriated $175 billion to the war effort, approximately $106 billion of which directly supports Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Trump said security guarantees for Ukraine after the war ends are still under discussion.

But he indicated for the first time that “some form of peacekeeping” forces would be part of any agreement to end the war.

“You’re going to need some form of peacekeeping. So something will be done that’s going to be satisfactory to everybody. We need peacekeeping, too,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

A peacekeeping force comprised of European troops seemed to be in the offing on Monday after French President Emmanuel Macron pitched the idea to Trump. Britain has said it would contribute troops, too, if the U.S. agrees to act as a “backstop.”

Russia has said European peacekeepers in Ukraine would be “unacceptable.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will press the case again during a Thursday visit to the White House.