Zelensky surrenders to Trump and 'will sign mineral deal within hours'
Donald Trump appears to have won his trade standoff with Volodymyr Zelensky, as the Ukrainian president is set to give in and sign a deal giving the U.S. access to deposits of critical minerals.
The deal was seen as crucial for satisfying Washington's demands for a peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia to end their three-year long war.
Zelensky said on Friday that officials from his country and the U.S. were working on concluding an economic deal to ensure that the accord worked and was fair to Kyiv.
'We're signing an agreement, hopefully in the next fairly short period of time,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about a deal for Ukraine's minerals.
The Wall Street Journal later cited several people familiar with the matter that the deal is close and will be signed within hours.
It comes following word that Zelensky angered Trump so much during negotiations that Trump threatened to completely pull US funding from Ukraine, Axios reported.
On Wednesday Zelensky rejected the demand for a share of its rare earth minerals—critical for cellphone production and a host of clean technologies.
That triggered a brutal war of words between the two leaders but an improved offer has reportedly been made to Kyiv.
Trump has famously said that the Russia-Ukraine war would never have started had he been president and claimed he could bring the conflict to an abrupt halt - without ever revealing his plans for doing so.
The president has been clear that Ukraine must remunerate the US for the aid provided to support the war effort thus far. The US President has said the figure stands at $300 billion.
The prospect of extracting Ukraine's natural resources has evidently been part of the Trump administration's plan from the outset.
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