Zelenskyy had resisted earlier versions of the minerals deal, citing the absence of firm security guarantees for Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Ukraine hasn’t signed a long-delayed rare earths agreement that the Trump administration has said is critical to cementing economic ties between Washington and Kyiv and supporting Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.
“Ukraine, headed by [President] Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not signed the final papers on the very important Rare Earths Deal with the United States. It is at least three weeks late. Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY,” Trump
wrote in a post on Truth Social on April 25.
Trump also expressed optimism that a broader peace deal between Ukraine and Russia was within reach.
“Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly. SUCCESS seems to be in the future!” he said.
The minerals deal, first
announced by Trump in February, would grant the United States a share of revenues from Ukraine’s rare earths, hydrocarbons, oil, and natural gas in exchange for continued security assistance. Although the agreement does not contain the explicit military guarantees Kyiv has sought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
said it contains an implicit security commitment by giving Washington a vested interest in Ukraine’s stability and sovereignty.
Last week, Trump
told reporters that Washington and Kyiv would likely sign the deal by April 24.
Zelenskyy has not publicly responded to Trump’s remarks about the minerals deal. In his nightly
address to the nation on April 25, he focused on separate negotiations with partners, including the United States, over the purchase of Patriot missile defense systems.
“We will seek to reach a corresponding agreement with the United States—an agreement on Patriots for Ukraine,“ Zelenskyy said. ”We are ready to purchase the necessary number of Patriot systems for our country. This is not about charity. We have proposed concrete deal options to protect our people.”
On the broader question of peace efforts, Zelenskyy emphasized the need for an immediate halt to hostilities.
“An unconditional cease-fire is needed,” he said. “Real pressure on Russia is needed so that they accept either the American proposal to cease fire and move towards peace, or our proposal—whichever one can truly work and ensure a reliable, immediate, and unconditional cease-fire, and then—a dignified peace and security guarantees.”
The United States has not formally released details of its Russia-Ukraine peace proposal.
Vice President JD Vance
recently said it would effectively freeze current front lines, halting active combat while locking in territorial gains. Ukraine, backed by several European governments, has countered with a broader proposal that would tie phased sanctions relief to Russian compliance and use frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine’s reconstruction.
The Trump administration has warned that if neither side accepts a peace deal soon, the United States may withdraw from its role as mediator.
Zelenskyy had previously resisted earlier iterations of the minerals deal, objecting to the lack of military security guarantees. However, following a brief pause in U.S. assistance earlier this year, Kyiv
signed a memorandum of intent with Washington on April 17, signaling renewed willingness to move forward.
“Ahead is the finalization of the text of the agreement and its signing—and then, ratification by parliaments,” Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko
wrote on social media. She added that while “a lot” of work remained, the document expressed the “desire of the American people to invest together with the Ukrainian people in a free, sovereign, and secure Ukraine.”
Besides making the minerals agreement, which has yet to materialize, part of their efforts to facilitate an end to the Ukraine war, Trump and his administration view securing a reliable alternative to Chinese-controlled rare earths as a national security priority. Ukraine holds some of Europe’s largest untapped reserves of critical minerals—including titanium, uranium, lithium, and graphite—that could help the United States diversify supply chains still heavily dependent on China, which dominates global mining and refining operations.
Bessent
said last week that the final agreement would largely reflect the original framework—an 80-page plan establishing a joint U.S.-Ukrainian reconstruction fund, with profits from mineral development flowing to both nations.
Earlier drafts of the deal envisioned Ukraine ceding up to $500 billion worth of mineral assets to the United States to compensate for past and ongoing U.S. aid. However, the current version focuses on profit-sharing without retroactively billing Ukraine for previous aid.
As the minerals talks drag on, Trump’s efforts to broker a broader cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia have made limited progress.
Ukraine has accepted an unconditional cease-fire proposal from Washington, but Russia has yet to agree, continuing to demand that Ukraine cede four eastern provinces, abandon its NATO aspirations, and prohibit the stationing of foreign troops on its territory.
A partial cease-fire brokered last month collapsed almost immediately, with both sides accusing each other of violations.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff,
met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on April 25 to advance negotiations. The Kremlin described the discussions as “productive” and said they helped bring the sides closer to a potential agreement.
On April 18, Secretary of State Marco Rubio
warned that the United States is prepared to “move on” from mediation efforts if progress is not made soon. Vice President JD Vance echoed that warning during a trip to India on April 23,
saying, “We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes, or for the United States to walk away from this process.”
