US, Ukraine 'Pretty Close' To Seal Rare Minerals Deal : Donald Trump Days After Calling Volodymyr Zelenskyy A 'Dictator'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The United States President Donald trump on Friday said that White House and Ukraine are close to finalise an agreement related to rare earth minerals. The progress has come days after Donald Trump called Volodymyr Zelenskyy a“comedian, dictator”.

“I think we're pretty close,” Trump told reporters on Friday.

The Ukraine-US deal will pave way for America to access its Ukraine's rare earth minerals and strenghthen their relationship, reported AP citing sources.

Initially, the deal was proposed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a bid to boost US-Ukraine ties and give his country an upper hand in future negotiations with Russia for the ongoing war.

The proposal also focused on how the extraction of rare earth minerals can be a“compensation” for the US for supporting Ukraine under the Joe Biden's leadership. However, Ukraine objected the proposed deals for certain reasons.

Ukraine-US rare minerals deal: Why did Zelenskyy object the agreement?

According to AP, Zelenskyy raised objection to the proposed rare earth minerals deal proposal after it failed to include security guarantees.

Zelenskyy said he balked at signing off on a deal that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed during a visit to Kyiv last week, and the Ukrainian leader objected again days later during a meeting in Munich with Vice President JD Vance because the American proposal did not include security guarantees.

US-Ukraine rare earth minerals deal progress

The deal is finally seeing some progress during the three-day visit to Ukraine by retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, which concluded on Friday. Kellogg is Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia.

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