By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – War-torn Ukraine has agreed with the United States to jointly develop its natural resources in an effort to ease tensions and advance the prospects of a U.S.-backed ceasefire with Russia, several officials said Tuesday.
The deal is due to be inked as early as Friday when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Washington, Worthy News learned.
“I hear that he’s coming on Friday,” U.S. President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday. “Certainly, it’s okay with me if you’d like to, and he would like to sign it together with me. And I understand that’s a big deal.”
However, according to sources familiar with the accord, the agreement lacks American security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv was reportedly pushing for.
However, it also does not mention the $500 billion figure Trump demanded in compensation for Washington’s support for Kyiv in fending off Moscow’s invasion.
Yet one version does say that Kyiv will pay “50 percent” of the revenues from its state-owned natural resources into a fund that would invest in Ukraine.
MAJOR SHIFT
Sources say Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will sign the deal after it is approved by Ukraine’s Cabinet this week.
If the deal goes ahead, it will mark a significant shift in Zelenskyy’s thinking.
Zelenskyy so far refused to sign two draft agreements proposed by Trump’s administration, which reportedly included Kyiv giving up minerals, oil and gas revenues, plus earnings from ports and other infrastructure to the tune of $500 billion.
“I will not sign what 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to pay back,” Zelenskyy said Sunday. But suggested that a “final deal” is “very close” and that it will include “rare earths and various other things.”
Yet experts say that despite reports of $10 trillion in mineral deposits, Ukraine has no major rare-earth reserves, used mainly in high-strength magnets, that are recognized as economically viable.
“Ukraine does have some commercial mines of critical minerals such as titanium and gallium, which while important aren’t likely to be worth the sums Trump envisages,” commented business news agency Bloomberg News.
BIGGER CHALLENGE
“Even if Ukraine does have any economically viable deposits, the West still has a bigger challenge to overcome. Most countries are forced to send the rare earths they mine to be refined in China as it dominates the processing of these materials,” Bloomberg News added.
However with enough support Ukraine could develop huge deposits of critical elements and minerals, from lithium to titanium, which are vital to manufacturing modern technologies and crucial in the global race for resources, according to a Worthy News assessment.
The deal could also help overcome tensions between Kyiv and Washington after Trump called Zelenskyy “a dictator” while the Ukrainian leader said his U.S. counterpart was living in a “Russian disinformation bubble.”
Trump says he wants to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia backed up by business deals while Europe would be more actively involved in providing guarantees.
Ukraine just observed the third anniversary of a war that is believed hi have killed and injured at least 1 million people since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
(With additional reporting by the Worthy News Europe Bureau in Budapest.)
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The United Nations Security Council will vote Monday evening at 5:00 p.m. New York time on a U.S.-drafted resolution establishing an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to be deployed throughout the Gaza Strip. The draft is identical to the version presented to the Council last Thursday and outlines a multinational force that will secure borders, destroy military infrastructure, and oversee the demilitarization of Gaza. It also provides for the training of a Palestinian police force that will join the multinational force’s operations.
President Donald Trump abruptly reversed himself Sunday night, announcing that he now supports House Republicans voting to release the long-sought Epstein files—just days after blasting several GOP lawmakers for pushing the effort.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agree to take up a case that could have an effect on the 2026 midterm elections.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday issued his strongest public denunciation yet of extremist settler violence in Judea and Samaria (also known as the West Bank), promising “very forceful action” amid a sharp rise in attacks that has drawn concern from Israeli security officials, international partners, and Washington.
In the immediate aftermath of Democrats losing the budget showdown that plunged Washington into a weeks-long government shutdown, House Republicans say the Left is now scrambling for a distraction — reviving the long-dormant fight over the Jeffrey Epstein files in what GOP leaders call a transparently political maneuver to wound President Donald Trump.
Iranian authorities have begun large-scale cloud-seeding operations in a desperate bid to generate rainfall as the country confronts its most severe drought in decades, state media reported over the weekend.
President Donald Trump is expected to finalize a landmark agreement with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that would allow Riyadh to acquire advanced U.S. F-35 stealth fighter jets—part of a sweeping package of economic, defense, and normalization initiatives set to be unveiled at the White House this week.