Ukraine says text of mineral agreement ready. Western media previously reported possible changes

Ukraine and the United States have completed negotiations on an agreement on rare earth minerals — the text of the document is ready. Earlier, Western media reported on possible changes and new desires of Donald Trump in the context of this agreement.

This was stated by Minister of Justice Olha Stefanishyna, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

According to her, the American side has not yet decided on the date and terms of signing, but Ukraine is ready to do so at any time.

What preceded

The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brought a pilot draft of a minerals agreement to Ukraine on February 12. Washington hoped that Kyiv would sign it immediately. President Zelensky said that he had banned the signing of the agreement because it would not be able to protect Ukraine’s interests — it had no connection to investments, profits, or security guarantees. After that, it began to be finalized.

The agreement was supposed to be signed on February 28, during Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs visit to the White House. However, Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president had a falling out — the Ukrainian delegation left the White House early. The document was not signed then.

After Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a heated argument at the White House on February 28, the US officials continued to talk to the Ukrainian side about the deal. They urged Zelensky’s advisers to force the Ukrainian president to publicly apologize to Trump.

On the evening of March 4, Zelensky said that the meeting with Trump “did not go as planned” and that this must be corrected. Ukraine, according to Zelensky, is ready to sign an agreement on the use of Ukrainian minerals “at any time and in any convenient format”. Trump, in his address to Congress, emphasized that he appreciated Kyiv’s readiness to conclude an agreement on minerals.

After that, CBS News wrote that Trump is pushing for a "bigger, better deal" with Ukraine on rare earths. The publicationʼs sources noted that the current version of the agreement is not final, and some of its points may change.

Bloomberg reported that the US President wants to tie a mineral extraction deal with Ukraine to a commitment by the Ukrainian side to cease fire as soon as possible. The publication noted on March 6 that the agreement could be amended “in the coming days”. Other sources warned that the US position could change at any time.

• On March 11, negotiations between delegations from Ukraine and the United States took place in Saudi Arabia. As a result, Ukraine agreed to an immediate temporary ceasefire — in exchange, Washington decided to resume aid and intelligence sharing. Volodymyr Zelensky said that a 30-day ceasefire would apply to the entire front line if Russia agreed to it.

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