Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faced pressure on Friday to sign a deal to hand the US preferential access to Ukraine's mineral deposits following harsh criticism from US President Donald Trump.
Trump wants Ukraine to give US companies access as compensation for the tens of billions of dollars of aid delivered under his predecessor Joe Biden.
But Ukraine is seeking security guarantees from the US in exchange for signing away precious rights to vast amounts of its natural resources and critical minerals.
Mike Waltz, Trump's national security adviser on Friday predicted that Zelensky would sign the deal soon.
"Look, here's the bottom line, President Zelensky is going to sign that deal and you will see that in the very short term, and that is good for Ukraine," Waltz said in a conference on the outskirts of Washington on Friday.
Trump's top advisers have doubled down on their attacks on Zelensky in recent days, after Trump branded him a "dictator" and falsely claimed Ukraine had "started" the war with Russia.
The war of words has stunned Kyiv and European capitals, a sign of just how rapidly Trump is overhauling Washington's long-standing support for Ukraine as he opens talks with Moscow on a settlement to the conflict.
The United States had been Ukraine's most important financial, military and political backer since Russia attacked in February 2022, in what the West's top powers had condemned as an unprovoked and illegal war of aggression.
A senior Ukrainian official earlier Friday said to AFP that despite the tensions between Zelensky and Trump, talks on a possible agreement were "ongoing".
"There is a constant exchange of drafts, we sent another one yesterday," the Kyiv source said, adding that Ukraine was now waiting for a US response.
Kyiv had rejected a first attempt by Trump's team to strike a deal for Ukraine's natural resources, saying the proposal did not include security guarantees for Kyiv — a move that infuriated Trump. — AFP
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