WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday the US is ready to sign a mineral deal with Ukraine “this afternoon” — but added there had been a last-minute snag.
“The Ukrainians decided last night to make some last minute changes,” Bessent said during a meeting of President Trump’s cabinet about the pending deal, which has been months in the making.
“We’re sure that they will reconsider that, and we are ready to sign this afternoon,” he added.
Bessent did not reveal any specifics of the deal, but said that Washington and Kyiv came to an agreement over the weekend.
Ukraine Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was in DC Wednesday looking to finalize the details of the agreement before singing the deal, per two Ukrainian officials.
“We are finalizing the last details with our American colleagues,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyha told Telemarathon, a Ukrainian TV outlet.
Lt. Denis Yaroslavsky, who commands a special reconnaissance unit for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said there is hope that the minerals deal will lead to a deeper connection between Kyiv and Washington that could help bring peace to the region.”The minerals deal is the first step. Ukraine should sign it on an equal basis,” he told The Post. “Russia is afraid of this deal.”
Trump has stumbled over several hurdles trying to get the deal across the table.
First, the president sent over several officials, including Bessent, to Ukraine in early February to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about signing the deal.
Trump grew frustrated after the Ukrainians didn’t immediately agree to the US terms, but the two sides did eventually come to an “improved” agreement in later that month February.
Zelensky flew to Washington to sign the deal at the White House — but got into a fiery argument with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office Feb. 28, a spat which ended in Zelensky being ejected from the executive mansion and the deal unsigned.
The agreement will likely lay out how the US and Ukraine will collaborate to extract rare earth minerals found in the Eastern European country.
Trump has argued the deal will be a way for the US to recoup some of the aid given to Ukraine during its three-year war against Russia — and will also act as a security guarantee, as US workers and investment will be on the ground.
“We want something for our efforts beyond what you would think would be acceptable, and we said,’ rare earth, they’re very good,’” Trump said during Wednesday’s meeting.
“It’s also good for them, because you’ll have an American presence at the site and the American presence will keep a lot of bad actors out of the country, or certainly out of the area where we’re doing the digging.
“So we made a deal, and I assume they’re going to honor the deal.”
With Post wires