President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that the United States will soon sign a minerals and natural resources agreement with Ukraine.
This comes after he stated that his efforts to broker a peace agreement for the country were progressing well after meeting with Russian and Ukrainian leaders this week.
Trump made this remark at a White House ceremony following the signing of an order to promote US production of key minerals.
“We’re doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia. And one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine,” he said.
The US president referred to his one-on-one meetings this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, both of which were intended to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Those negotiations, which fell far short of Trump’s fantasy of securing a full 30-day ceasefire, apparently produced Putin agreeing to a 30-day halt in Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, and Zelenskiy agreeing to a break.
“We would love to see that (war) come to an end, and I think we’re doing pretty well in that regard.
“So hopefully we’d save thousands of people a week from dying. That’s what it’s all about. They’re dying so unnecessarily, and I believe we’ll get it done,” Trump added.
Ukraine and the US revealed this month that they had reached an agreement to reach a comprehensive agreement for the development of Ukraine’s key natural resources as soon as possible, which Trump sees as a way of repaying the US for its assistance to Kiev.
Efforts to finalize the deal, however, were thwarted after a catastrophic White House meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy towards the end of last month.
Trump and Zelenskyy on Wednesday discussed collaborating to end Russia’s war with Ukraine, during a White House-approved phone call that was reported as a excellent one-hour talk, their first since their last year’s Oval Office shouting argument, which prompted the temporary withdrawal of US military aid and intelligence for Kyiv.
