By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – War-torn Ukraine has agreed with the United States to jointly develop its natural resources in an effort to ease tensions and advance the prospects of a U.S.-backed ceasefire with Russia, several officials said Tuesday.
The deal is due to be inked as early as Friday when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Washington, Worthy News learned.
“I hear that he’s coming on Friday,” U.S. President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday. “Certainly, it’s okay with me if you’d like to, and he would like to sign it together with me. And I understand that’s a big deal.”
However, according to sources familiar with the accord, the agreement lacks American security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv was reportedly pushing for.
However, it also does not mention the $500 billion figure Trump demanded in compensation for Washington’s support for Kyiv in fending off Moscow’s invasion.
Yet one version does say that Kyiv will pay “50 percent” of the revenues from its state-owned natural resources into a fund that would invest in Ukraine.
MAJOR SHIFT
Sources say Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will sign the deal after it is approved by Ukraine’s Cabinet this week.
If the deal goes ahead, it will mark a significant shift in Zelenskyy’s thinking.
Zelenskyy so far refused to sign two draft agreements proposed by Trump’s administration, which reportedly included Kyiv giving up minerals, oil and gas revenues, plus earnings from ports and other infrastructure to the tune of $500 billion.
“I will not sign what 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to pay back,” Zelenskyy said Sunday. But suggested that a “final deal” is “very close” and that it will include “rare earths and various other things.”
Yet experts say that despite reports of $10 trillion in mineral deposits, Ukraine has no major rare-earth reserves, used mainly in high-strength magnets, that are recognized as economically viable.
“Ukraine does have some commercial mines of critical minerals such as titanium and gallium, which while important aren’t likely to be worth the sums Trump envisages,” commented business news agency Bloomberg News.
BIGGER CHALLENGE
“Even if Ukraine does have any economically viable deposits, the West still has a bigger challenge to overcome. Most countries are forced to send the rare earths they mine to be refined in China as it dominates the processing of these materials,” Bloomberg News added.
However with enough support Ukraine could develop huge deposits of critical elements and minerals, from lithium to titanium, which are vital to manufacturing modern technologies and crucial in the global race for resources, according to a Worthy News assessment.
The deal could also help overcome tensions between Kyiv and Washington after Trump called Zelenskyy “a dictator” while the Ukrainian leader said his U.S. counterpart was living in a “Russian disinformation bubble.”
Trump says he wants to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia backed up by business deals while Europe would be more actively involved in providing guarantees.
Ukraine just observed the third anniversary of a war that is believed hi have killed and injured at least 1 million people since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
(With additional reporting by the Worthy News Europe Bureau in Budapest.)
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Pastor Praveen Pagadala, one of India’s most well-known Christian evangelists, has been found dead under alleged suspicious circumstances in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, Worthy News learned Wednesday. He was 46.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced Wednesday he would sign “a historic executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world” ranging from 10 percent to 49 percent.
European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs will have a negative impact worldwide, with the damage depending on how far they go, how long they last, and whether they lead to successful negotiations.
The FBI ordered agents to stop discussing Hunter Biden’s laptop just hours after one of its own inadvertently confirmed its authenticity to Twitter, internal messages show. Ahead of The Post’s 2020 reports, the FBI had warned tech giants of a potential Russian disinformation dump resembling the laptop contents. Once the story broke, Facebook execs weighed censorship strategies to align with the expected Biden-Harris administration, according to a congressional investigation.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday that Israel is expanding its Gaza operations after heavy overnight strikes, with troops set to clear terrorists and infrastructure and seize territory for expanded security zones.
At least six nuclear-capable B-2 Spirit stealth bombers have been seen at Camp Thunder Bay on Diego Garcia, a remote U.S. base in the Indian Ocean according to satellite imagery analyzed on Wednesday by the Associated Press.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister issued a strong warning to the United States, cautioning that any military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities would lead to “catastrophic” consequences for the entire region after President Donald Trump threatened the “bombing the likes they have never seen before.”