On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that a strategic raw materials deal with Ukraine is nearly good to go.

Mr Trump, commenting after a cabinet meeting, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had told him that the rare earth agreement with Ukraine was as good as finalised.

“They’ll sign it shortly,” Mr Trump said.

The U.S. president reiterated his false claim that Europe had only given Ukraine aid as a loan and that the United States was the only one pumping money into the country.

Last week, Mr Trump had already expressed confidence that an agreement would be reached shortly.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Washington on February 28 to conclude the raw materials deal but left without signing it after being publicly rebuked by Mr Trump and Vice-President JD Vance.

The meeting was cancelled, and Mr Zelensky was asked to leave the White House.

Shortly after taking office in January, Mr Trump linked U.S. aid for Kyiv, which has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for more than three years, to access to Ukraine’s stockpiles of rare earth.

The exploitation of raw materials in Ukraine is considered strategically important and economically lucrative.

However, a large proportion of the materials are located in Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia.

(dpa/NAN)