Trump administration 'ready to sign' Ukraine minerals deal, Treasury chief says
US ‘ready to sign’ agreement as soon as Wednesday afternoon, but 'last-minute changes' put forward by Ukraine have caused delays, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says
United States Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent
WASHINGTON
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the US is "ready to sign" a long elusive critical minerals deal with Ukraine as reports indicated that approval was imminent following months of often fraught negotiations.
Bessent said Ukraine proposed "last-minute changes" Tuesday night that presented a snag to the agreement's finalization, but said he is confident that Kyiv will "reconsider." He emphasized that the Trump administration is ready to lend its pen to the agreement as soon as Wednesday afternoon.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said earlier Wednesday that the long-awaited pact with the US will be signed “hopefully within the next 24 hours.”
“As soon as all the final details are finalized, in the near future — hopefully within the next 24 hours — the agreement will be signed and we will receive the first step,” Shmyhal said on Ukraine's national telethon, United News.
Once the deal is signed, Shmyhal added, Ukraine and the US will also sign two technical agreements for the establishment of an investment fund “and its financing and replenishment.”
He said Kyiv is "already" finalizing the final details with Washington. "Indeed, this is a strategic agreement on the creation of an investment fund, a partnership fund," Shmyhal said.
On the details of the agreement, Shmyhal stressed grants and assistance provided to Ukraine earlier are not subject to the agreement and the new deal includes only new assistance and monetary contributions.
Shmyhal said the joint investment fund will contribute to the development and restoration of Ukraine and the Ukrainian economy for 10 years.
Speaking alongside Bessent during a Cabinet meeting, US President Donald Trump voiced confidence that the deal would come together.
"We haven't really seen the fruits of that deal yet. I suspect we will. I suspect we will," he said.
He reiterated his long-standing position that the agreement would provide Ukraine with de facto security guarantees from the US.
"It's also good for them, because you'll have an American presence at the site, and the American presence will keep a lot of bad actors out of the country, or certainly the area," he said.
