The Trump administration and Ukraine plan to proceed with signing the long-debated minerals deal, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. President Trump has told advisers he wants to announce the agreement during his address to Congress on Tuesday evening.
The sources cautioned that the deal has yet to be finalized and could still be subject to change. The deal was initially put on hold following the heated exchange between Trump and Zelensky during their meeting on Friday. Zelensky had traveled to Washington specifically to sign the agreement, but the meeting ended abruptly before any progress was made.
Despite the fallout, U.S. officials have continued discussions with Ukrainian counterparts in recent days, pressing for the deal to move forward. One source said Zelensky’s advisers have been urged to convince him to issue a public apology to Trump in an effort to smooth tensions.
On Tuesday, Zelensky posted on X that Ukraine was prepared to sign the deal, calling the Oval Office meeting “regrettable.”
It remains unclear whether any terms of the agreement have changed. The original deal, which was set to be signed last week, did not include explicit security guarantees for Ukraine but granted the U.S. access to revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources. It also outlined that 50% of future monetization of any state-owned natural resources would be allocated to a U.S.-Ukraine managed reconstruction investment fund.
