Ukraine employee says the terms of the mineral deal agree with us

Ukraine has agreed to the terms of major mineral deals with the United States, a senior KYIV employee told the BBC.

“We have really agreed it with a number of good changes and we look at it as a positive result,” the employee said without providing further details.

Media reports say Washington has denied the initial requests for the right to $ 500 billion (395 billion British pounds) in potential revenue from using natural resources, but did not give a firm guarantee of the security of war -torn Ukraine – a key Ukrainian demand.

US President Donald Trump has said he is expecting his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelenski in Washington, to sign the deal this week after the two leaders exchanged strong words for each other.

Without confirming that an agreement had been reached, Trump said on Tuesday that in exchange for the deal Ukraine would receive the “right to fight”.

“They are very brave,” he told reporters, but “without the US and his money and his military equipment, this war would end in a very short period of time.”

Asked if the supplies of American equipment and ammunition in Ukraine will continue, he said: “Maybe until we have a deal with Russia … We have to have a deal, otherwise it will continue.”

There will be “some form of maintenance of peace” in Ukraine after every peace transaction, Trump added, but this will have to be “acceptable to everyone”.

Just last week, Trump described Zelenski as a “dictator” and seems to blame Ukraine – not Russia – to start the war after the Ukrainian leader rejected US demands for $ 500 billion in mineral wealth and suggested that the US president lives in A The “misinformation space” created by Russia.

Trump insists on access to the minerals of Ukraine in exchange for a previous military and other assistance to the country since Moscow began a full -scale invasion three years ago.

Zelenski spores anywhere close to the fact that a lot of American help was provided, adding, “I cannot sell our country.”

On Tuesday, Trump said the United States has given Ukraine between $ 300 billion and $ 350 billion.

“We want to return that money,” he said. “We are helping the country with a very big problem … But the American taxpayer will now return the money plus.”

Deputy Minister of Ukraine Olha Stefanishna told the Financial Times – which for the first time reported the mineral deal on Tuesday – that the deal is “only part of the picture”.

“We have heard many times from the US administration that this is part of a bigger picture,” said Stephanishna, who runs the negotiations.

According to Ukrainian sources, the United States had to be withdrawn from some of its more severe demands from the torn nation and many of the details of this Agreement will require additional contracts.

However, the precedent is set. The US help in the Trump era comes with the strings applied. Assistance assistance – whether it is given for humanitarian or strategic reasons – is something of the past.

This is a fundamental rearrangement of US foreign policy for more than 75 years, from the days of Marshall's plan to after the cold military idealism and the “freedom program” of George W The Freedom Program to promote global democracy.

Ukraine is just the beginning. Expect Trump and his foreign political team to implement their “America First” principles around the world over the next four years.

Ukraine's news site Ukrainska Pravda has announced that the mineral deal should be signed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andri Sibiha and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The EP of the Economic Department of the news site said the two countries also agreed to set up an investment fund for reconstruction.

Ukraine has huge deposits of critical elements and minerals, including lithium and titanium, as well as significant coal, gas, oil and uranium – supplies billions of dollars.

Last year, Zelenski presented a “Plan for Victory” to Ukraine and its Western partners, which offered foreign companies to gain access to some of the mineral wealth of the countries at the end of the war.

Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to offering US access to rare minerals, including from Russia's occupied regions of Ukraine.

Ukraine and its European allies are becoming more worrying because of recent thawing in American-Russian ties, including their bilateral negotiations in Saudi Arabia last week.

In Kiev and throughout Europe, there are fears that they can be excluded from any negotiations aimed at ending the war, and that the future security of the continent as a whole can be resolved behind their backs.

It is estimated that about 5% of the world's “critical raw materials” are in Ukraine – including:

• 19 million tonnes of proven graphite reserves used to make batteries for electric vehicles

• One third of all European lithium deposits, a key component in current batteries.

Prior to the full-scale invasion of Russia three years ago, Ukraine also produced 7% of the world titanium used in construction for everything from planes to power plants.

Ukrainian land also contains significant deposits of rare earth metals, a group of 17 elements used to produce weapons, wind turbines, electronics and other products vital in the modern world

Some mineral deposits have been seized from Russia. According to Julia, Slovidenko, the Minister of Economy of Ukraine, resources worth $ 350 billion remain in occupied Russian territories today.