President Donald Trump‘s administration has reached an agreement with Kyiv on the framework of a rare earth mineral deal that Ukrainian officials hope will strengthen ties with the Trump administration and lay the groundwork for a long-term U.S. security commitment.

Newsweek has reached out to the State Department and White House on Tuesday afternoon for comment.

The agreement could be finalized as soon as Friday, with plans underway for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to travel to Washington for a meeting with Trump, a Ukrainian official told the Associated Press.

Another official said the agreement would give Zelensky and Trump a chance to discuss ongoing military aid to Ukraine, making its finalization a priority for Kyiv. The agreement does not include security guarantees. One official said that this would be a topic for discussion when Zelensky and Trump meet.

Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, said Tuesday he’d heard that Zelensky was coming and added that “it’s okay with me, if he’d like to, and he would like to sign it together with me.”

Trump called it “a very big deal,” adding that it could be worth a trillion dollars. It could be whatever, but it’s rare earths and other things.”

Why This Matters

Negotiations on the deal have advanced despite a recent exchange of sharp rhetoric between Trump and Zelensky over their disagreements on the matter.

Zelensky resisted signing a proposal pushed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during his visit to Kyiv earlier this month and reiterated his objections days later in Munich during a meeting with Vice President JD Vance, arguing that the American plan lacked security guarantees.

In response, Trump criticized Zelensky, calling him “a dictator without elections” and claiming his support among voters was dwindling.

What to Know

Significant progress was made last week during a three-day visit to Ukraine by retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia.

A Ukrainian official stated that while some technical details still need to be finalized, the draft agreement no longer includes the Trump administration’s contentious proposal to grant the U.S. $500 billion in profits from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as compensation for wartime aid.

Instead, the deal establishes joint ownership of a fund between the U.S. and Ukraine, with Ukraine committing to contribute 50 percent of future proceeds from state-owned resources, including minerals oil, and gas. One official described the terms as more favorable for investment, while another said Kyiv had secured key amendments and viewed the outcome as “positive.”

Trump said Monday he is optimistic that the United States and Ukraine would soon reach an agreement on a rare earth minerals deal.

“It looks like we’re getting very close,” Trump told reporters at the start of his bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, during which they discussed the situation in Ukraine.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters on Tuesday that it was “critical that this deal is signed.”

The deal reportedly excludes existing revenue-generating resources, such as those controlled by Naftogaz and Ukrnafta, Ukraine’s largest gas and oil producers.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he would consider extending a potential rare earth metals exploration deal with the U.S. to Ukraine’s occupied regions and called Russia “one of the undisputed leaders in reserves of these rare and rare earth metals.”

“We have them in the North—in Murmansk, in the Caucasus—in Kabardino-Balkaria, in the Far East, in the Irkutsk region, and in Yakutia, in Tuva,” Putin said. “These are quite capital-intensive investments, capital-intensive projects. We would be happy to work together with any foreign partners, including the Americans.”

Putin added that Ukraine’s annexed regions—what he calls Russia’s “new territories”—are also rich in rare earth elements. However, the international community does not recognize Russia’s annexation and continues to consider these regions part of Ukraine.

What People Are Saying

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister, told the Financial Times on Tuesday: “The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture.”

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, told told Zarubin on Monday: “We would be ready to offer [cooperation] to our American partners—when I say ‘partners,’ I mean not only administrative and government structures, but also companies—if they showed interest in working together.”

Scott Bessent, Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury, told Fox News on Sunday: “We make money if the Ukrainian people make money.”

What’s Next

The deal remains a “framework agreement”, with unresolved issues like U.S. stake size and jurisdiction, and it still requires approval from Ukraine’s parliament, where it is expected to face debate.

Update: 2/25/25, 3:17 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update: 2/25/25, 3:26 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update: 2/25/25, 3:50 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update: 2/25/25, 4:07 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update: 2/25/25, 7:12 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.