U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and Ukraine are expected to sign a 'mineral agreement' as early as the 4th (local time), Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources. Trump expressed to his staff that he wants to announce the details of the mineral agreement during a joint session of Congress scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. (Korea time, 11 a.m. on the 5th) and is making another attempt to sign the mineral agreement.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in a confrontation at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Oct. 28. / EPA Yonhap News

Initially, Trump wanted to sign the mineral agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to the White House on the 28th of last month, but the summit was disrupted, preventing the signing. The fallout was that Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly pressured Zelensky to 'thank the United States for its support' and 'you are risking a third world war.'

Reuters reported that 'U.S. officials discussed signing the mineral agreement with Ukrainian officials recently, despite the disruptions in the talks on the 28th,' and 'they urged Zelensky's advisers to persuade Zelensky to publicly apologize to Trump.'

Reflecting this, Zelensky said on that day, 'Our meeting at the White House did not go as expected, and I regret that.' He added, 'Now is the time to rectify the situation. We hope our future cooperation and communication will be constructive.' He also stated, 'We truly appreciate what the U.S. has supported to maintain Ukraine's sovereignty and independence' and 'Ukraine is always ready to sign the agreement regarding minerals and security in a convenient format.'

However, it is not confirmed whether the mineral agreement contains security guarantees for Ukraine. At the time of the meeting between Trump and Zelensky, the U.S. side only included provisions allowing the U.S. access to Ukraine's natural resources, without clearly stating any security guarantees.

Meanwhile, Trump indicated on the 3rd that he still intends to sign the mineral agreement with Ukraine, stating, 'Ukraine should express more gratitude.' Trump said, 'This country (the United States) has been with them (Ukraine) in good times and bad,' adding, 'We have given them much more than Europe has.'

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