The administration of US President Donald Trump may try to conclude a simplified mining deal with Ukraine in order to quickly conclude a pact and then discuss the detailed terms, such as what share of Ukraine's resources the US would own, according to two people cited by Reuters, writes UNN.
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This comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week rejected a detailed US proposal under which Washington would have received 50% of Ukraine's critical minerals, including graphite, uranium, titanium and lithium, the latter of which is a key component in electric vehicle batteries.
This episode showed that time is needed to reach a full agreement, the sources said. But US President Donald Trump, as indicated, wants to strike a deal with Ukraine before potentially allowing more military support for Kyiv or moving forward with an attempt to mediate official peace talks between Ukraine and Russia to end the three-year war provoked by Moscow's invasion of its neighbor.
Trump's special representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is in Kyiv this week to discuss the parameters of the revised pact and what Ukraine needs in exchange for signing it. Zelenskyy said he will meet with Kellogg on Thursday, "and it is very important for us that this meeting - and joint cooperation with America - are constructive".
When asked whether US officials will continue to pursue the deal, a Trump adviser speaking on condition of anonymity said of Zelenskyy: "We certainly need to bring that guy back to reality".
Sources said it is important for Trump that he can publicly signal to the American people that the US is recouping the aid.
In a speech earlier, Trump mentioned the deal, saying it had been "broken".
"The United States has spent $200 billion more than Europe and Europe's money is guaranteed. They get their money back. It's a form of a loan. Nobody knows that. I said why isn't somebody saying we do it the same way and we spent much more money, we have to equalize. While the United States gets nothing back so they get their money back, it's a loan. We just give our money and we had a deal based on rare earth and things but they broke that deal. They broke it two days ago. We had a deal because i said we're spending $350 billion and Europe gets their money back in the form of a loan and we don't," Trump said.
A third Reuters source familiar with the situation said Ukraine is willing to strike a deal with the Trump administration. Another source also said Kyiv is ready to make a deal, but it should not look as "predatory" as the one proposed by the US.
The push for a deal continues despite the growing rift between Trump and Zelenskyy, the publication writes.
The revised, simplified approach will help the United States bypass numerous legal and logistical hurdles and give them time to negotiate the details of the development, including the revenue sharing later, the publication points out.