U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 20th (local time) that he will soon sign an agreement with Ukraine regarding rare earth minerals.
Before the signing ceremony of the executive order related to the dissolution of the Ministry of Education held that day at the White House, Trump noted, "We are doing very well with Ukraine and Russia for (peace negotiations)." He added, "The rare earth minerals in Ukraine have tremendous value."
The mineral agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine was set to be signed by President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the 28th of last month, but the meeting between the two leaders ended without results after heated discussions.
The U.S. has been demanding mining rights to key minerals, including rare earth elements buried in Ukrainian territory, in exchange for military support to Ukraine.
Additionally, before the event that day, Trump stated, "I just signed an executive order to dramatically increase the production of key minerals and rare earth elements," adding, "As you know, we are planning to sign agreements in various places to secure rare earth elements and minerals from around the world, along with many other resources."