Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is ready to sign the rare-earth mineral deal as soon as Wednesday if Ukraine agrees.
Mr. Bessent said the Ukrainians made “some last-minute changes.”
“We’re sure that they will reconsider that, and we are ready to sign this afternoon if they are,” he said.
He said there’s been “no changes” on the Americans’ side.
President Trump says the rare-earth minerals from Ukraine are a form of payment for all the U.S. aid for its war with Russia. They are used in many different products, including electronic devices, turbines and medical equipment.
“We’re putting up much more money, have absolutely nothing,” Mr. Trump said at a Cabinet meeting. “And I didn’t want to make a complicated deal, I didn’t want to make a deal that couldn’t be made because Ukraine doesn’t have very much money.”
“I felt very foolish…so I said well we want something for our efforts,” he said. “They have very good rare earth. As you know we’re looking for rare earth all the time.”
He said the deal is good for Ukraine too, because an “American presence” will be at the site.
“We haven’t really seen the fruits of that deal yet,” he said. “I suspect we will.”
The president previously said the deal, which emerged during negotiations for a still-unresolved ceasefire, was ready to be signed last week but it didn’t come to fruition.
Mr. Trump posted on social media last week that Ukraine hadn’t signed the minerals deal and it was “three weeks late.”
“Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY,” he said.
