US will sign Ukraine minerals deal soon – Trump

United States President, Donald Trump on Thursday said that the United States will sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine shortly.

This was as he said that his efforts to achieve a peace deal for the country were going pretty well after his talks this week with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

Trump stated this at a White House event after signing an order to increase US production of critical minerals.

“We're doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia. And one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine,” he said.

The US president referred to his separate discussions this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine.

Those talks, which fell short of Trump's aim to secure a full 30-day ceasefire, reportedly resulted in Putin agreeing to stop Russian attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days and Zelenskiy saying he would also accept such a pause.

“We would love to see that (war) come to an end, and I think we're doing pretty well in that regard.

“So hopefully we’d save thousands of people a week from dying. That's what it's all about. They're dying so unnecessarily, and I believe we'll get it done,” Trump added.

Ukraine and the US said this month that they had agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine's critical mineral resources, which Trump sees as a means to pay back the United States for its assistance to Kyiv.

Efforts to seal the deal, however, stumbled after a disastrous White House meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy at the end of last month.

Trump and Zelenskyy agreed on Wednesday to work together to end Russia's war with Ukraine, in what the White House described as a fantastic one-hour phone call, their first conversation since their Oval Office shouting match that resulted in a short-term cutoff in U.S. military aid and intelligence to Kyiv.