Three-week delay: Trump demands Zelenskyy sign minerals deal immediately

"Ukraine, headed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not signed the final papers on the very important rare earths deal with the United States on rare earth metals. It is at least three weeks late. Hopefully it will be signed immediately," Trump wrote.

At the same time, he traditionally stated that work on a joint peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine "is going smoothly."

Minerals deal

In February this year, Ukraine and the US planned to sign a framework agreement on rare earth resources. However, this did not happen due to a conflict between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump that arose during their meeting at the White House on March 28. After that, Washington sent Kyiv a new version of the agreement in the field of mineral extraction.

Recently, the US handed over a new draft agreement to Ukraine. Additionally, Ukraine and the US held a technical online meeting regarding the agreement.

According to Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine has already developed its position on the agreement with the US and is forming a team to travel to Washington for negotiations.

Moreover, Ukraine allocated $2.8 million for the preparation of the agreement.

Recently, US President Donald Trump suggested that Ukraine and the US could sign such an agreement on April 24. However, the Ukrainian side did not confirm this information.