On Monday, a senior Ukrainian official said that the contours of a deal were coming into view.
“Ukrainian and U.S. teams are in the final stages of negotiations regarding the minerals agreement. The negotiations have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalized. We are committed to completing this swiftly to proceed with its signature,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Olga Stefanishyna said in a post on X on Monday.
“We hope both US and UA leaders might sign and endorse it in Washington the soonest to showcase our commitment for decades to come,” Stefanishyna added.
Under Trump’s leadership, the White House has vowed to end the Russia-Ukraine war as soon as possible, while shifting America’s stance to echo Russia’s narrative about Kyiv provoking Moscow into starting the conflict. The U.S. is also looking to stop funding Ukraine’s war effort.
“We’re funding with no arrangement to pay it back. Alternatively, the Europeans who are most affected by this war were funding the minority share and they had agreements to pay it back. This agreement is much about repayment for all that we have done on behalf of the Ukrainian people. I expect the deal to be signed this week,” said Steve Witkoff, a top ally of Trump.
After a week of public criticism from Trump, and also calls “to tone down public criticism” and do the deal from U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Ukrainians are hoping for a satisfactory result.
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