Ukraine’s Zelensky says ‘good progress’ in minerals talks with US

KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 16 negotiators were making “good progress” with the US in fraught talks over a minerals deal intended to secure desperately needed US support.

“The basic legal stuff is almost finalised, and then, if everything moves as quickly and constructively, the agreement will bring economic results to both our countries,” Mr Zelensky said, in his daily address.

Kyiv and Washington had planned to sign a deal on extracting Ukraine’s strategic minerals, until

a clash between US President Donald Trump and Mr Zelensky

in February temporarily derailed work on the agreement.

Mr Trump wants the deal – designed to give the US royalty payments on profits from Ukrainian mining of resources and rare minerals – as compensation for aid given to Ukraine by his predecessor, Mr Joe Biden.

“The Ukrainian government team working with the US side on the economic partnership agreement is making good progress,” Mr Zelensky said.

He pointed to an update provided by Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko who earlier said “significant progress” had been made in the talks.

She said Ukrainian officials had “adjusted several items within the draft agreement” and that the two sides would sign a “memorandum of intent” soon.

The Ukrainian Parliament would vote on any final accord, she added.

A senior official with knowledge of the negotiations said talks were moving forward “quite fast”.

The source told AFP that newer drafts of the accord appeared

not to recognise US aid as a debt owed

by Ukraine.

That assessment echoed an earlier report by Bloomberg News that said Washington had eased a demand that Kyiv pay back aid delivered since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

It reported that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had on April 14 said that a deal could be signed as early as “this week”. AFP