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The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump may attempt to sign a simplified agreement with Ukraine regarding mineral resources to speed up the process, leaving detailed terms for later negotiations.
This information was reported to Reuters by sources.
The news comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected a proposal last week under which the U.S. would receive 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals.
According to agency sources, this indicates that reaching a full agreement will take time.
When asked whether the U.S. would continue to push for the deal, a Trump team representative, speaking anonymously, said:
“Absolutely, we need to bring this guy (Zelenskyy) back to reality.”
Sources also stated that for Trump, it is important to be able to publicly tell the American people that the U.S. is getting its money back for the aid provided to Ukraine.
Another source familiar with the matter said that Ukraine is willing to make a deal with the Trump administration.
A separate source added that Kyiv is open to an agreement, but it should not appear as “predatory” as the initial U.S. proposal.
Details remain unclear regarding who in the administration originally helped draft the proposal.
The revised approach is just one of several being discussed in the White House on how to reach an agreement with Kyiv within weeks, which is considered extremely fast.
This simplified version would allow the U.S. to bypass various legal and logistical obstacles while providing time for later negotiations on key details such as revenue sharing, the agency notes.
Recently, Trump criticized Zelenskyy for refusing to sign the resource development deal.
His National Security Advisor Mike Waltz also linked Trump’s recent harsh statements about Ukraine to Zelenskyy’s refusal to sign the agreement.
Read also: Macron, Starmer to visit Washington for talks on Ukraine
