Will the agreement on Ukrainian minerals go ahead? What have the U.S. come up with to pressure Zelensky further?

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, may seek to establish a simplified agreement with Ukraine regarding mineral resources to expedite the deal. Subsequently, detailed conditions will be discussed, such as the portion of Ukraine's vast resources that the U.S. will own.

This information comes from Reuters. The report indicates that plans changed after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected a detailed U.S. proposal last week, which stipulated that Washington would receive 50% of Ukraine's most critical minerals, including graphite, uranium, titanium, and lithium, a key component in electric vehicle batteries.

What Trump Wants

"This episode clearly demonstrated that reaching a comprehensive agreement will take time," sources say. "However, Trump wants the pact with Ukraine finalized before potentially allowing for greater U.S. military support to Kyiv or proceeding with attempts to mediate official peace talks between Ukraine and Russia to end the three-year war," the report states.

Need to Bring Zelensky Back to Reality

Currently, Trump's special representative for Ukraine, Kurt Kellogg, is in Kyiv this week to discuss the parameters of a revised pact and what Ukraine needs in exchange for signing. Zelensky stated that he would meet with Kellogg on February 20, emphasizing that "it is extremely important for us that this meeting and our overall cooperation with America be constructive."

When asked if U.S. officials would continue to pursue an agreement, a Trump advisor, speaking on condition of anonymity, remarked about Zelensky: "We certainly need to bring this guy back to reality."

Efforts to finalize an agreement are ongoing despite the rift between Trump and Zelensky.

On February 19, Trump condemned his Ukrainian counterpart, calling him a "dictator without elections" after Zelensky stated that Trump had fallen into a Russian disinformation trap, which was a response to the U.S. president's suggestion that Ukraine started the war.

Over the past three years, the United States has provided Ukraine with military assistance worth tens of billions of dollars, and Trump has asserted that U.S. investments in Ukrainian minerals could ensure that "we will get that money back in some form." He insists that Kyiv grant the U.S. concessions worth $500 billion as recognition of Washington's support.

The Agreement Should Not Be "Predatory"

It is unclear to what extent the initial U.S. proposal was framed as compensation for past arms supplies or for future deliveries. However, Zelensky stated that it overly focuses on U.S. interests and does not include security guarantees for Kyiv.

"I cannot sell our country," he told reporters on February 19.

A third source familiar with the situation indicated that Ukraine is ready to reach an agreement with the Trump administration. Another source also mentioned that Kyiv is prepared to finalize a deal, but it should not appear as "predatory" as the initially proposed U.S. agreement.

Details of discussions in the U.S. regarding the potential mining agreement, including information on who in the administration helped develop the initial proposal, remain unknown.

The revised approach is just one of several options being discussed in the White House for reaching an agreement with Kyiv in the coming weeks. These are unusually tight deadlines for a complex sector where deals typically involve private companies and government entities rather than governments.

Trump reiterated his frustration that most U.S. aid has been in the form of grants, while Europe, he claims, primarily provided loans. "While the United States gets nothing back, they get their money back," he said.

He also criticized Zelensky's rejection of the 50/50 proposal, describing it as a breach of agreement without any evidence that Kyiv had actually consented to it. "And we had an agreement based on rare earth metals and other things, but they violated that agreement... they violated it two days ago," Trump stated.

By the way, Zelensky explained why he refused to sign the mineral agreement .

A Tested Tool in China's Strategy.

The revised, simplified approach will help the United States navigate numerous legal and logistical hurdles and provide time to discuss project details, including revenue sharing, at a later stage.

"Historically, the U.S. has not used the exchange of natural resources for aid, but this is a tested tool in China's mining strategy," said Gracelyn Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Ukraine is extremely interested in building deeper economic and defense relationships with the United States, as well as finding a way to acknowledge the significant U.S. investments already made in Ukraine's future, stated Tyson Barker, former Deputy Special Representative for Economic Recovery in Ukraine.

"Ukrainians are more than willing to offer additional advantages to the United States in the form of privileged access to critical mineral resources as recognition of the billions of dollars American taxpayers have invested in Ukraine," he said. "This is something Ukrainians have been strategizing for some time."

Barker noted that similar terms would need to be offered to other countries that have made significant contributions to the war in Ukraine, including Canada, the UK, Japan, and the EU.

However, Russia is also eager to acquire Ukraine's natural resources, and its forces, which have already captured one-fifth of Ukraine, including rare earth metal reserves, are currently just 6 kilometers from a massive lithium deposit.

Earlier, "Telegraph" reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to sign an agreement that would have allowed the U.S. to acquire 50 percent of mineral reserves. Washington Post journalist Josh Rogin wrote that a U.S. Congressional delegation provided Zelensky with the relevant document, but the Ukrainian leader did not sign it.