Sawt Falasteen - Ukraine, US say minerals deal ready as suspense lingers

President Donald Trump has demanded rights to Ukraine's mineral wealth, vital to new technologies, after demanding compensation for the billions of dollars in US weapons sent since Russia invaded just over three years ago.

After initial hesitation, Ukraine has accepted a minerals accord as a way to secure long-term investment by the United States, as Trump tries to drastically scale back US security commitments around the world.

"Our side is ready to sign. The Ukrainians decided last night to make some last-minute changes," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a White House cabinet meeting led by Trump.

"We're sure that they will reconsider that, and we are ready to sign this afternoon if they are," he said.

In Kyiv, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said that Ukraine also expected the deal to be signed within "the next 24 hours."

"This is truly a good, equal and beneficial international agreement on joint investments in the development and recovery of Ukraine," Shmygal said on national television.

A senior source in the Ukrainian presidency said that the deal will create a "50/50" joint fund split between Kyiv and Washington and not be linked to "debts" for assistance to Ukraine approved under former president Joe Biden.

"It ensures the equality of the parties. An investment fund will be created to invest in reconstruction. It is envisaged that there will be contributions from us and the United States," the source said on condition of anonymity.

- US presence against 'bad actors' -

Trump has balked at offering security guarantees to Ukraine and has rejected its aspiration to join NATO.

But Trump said on Wednesday that a US presence on the ground would benefit Ukraine.

"The American presence will, I think, keep a lot of bad actors out of the country or certainly out of the area where we're doing the digging," Trump said at the cabinet meeting.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday threatened that the Trump administration would give up on mediation on the conflict -- which Trump had vowed during the campaign to end on his first day in office -- unless the two sides come forward with "concrete proposals."

Trump has pressed for a settlement in which Ukraine would give up some territory seized by Russia, which has rejected US-backed overtures for a ceasefire of at least 30 days.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out any formal concession to Russia of Crimea, the peninsula seized in 2014 and whose annexation by Moscow is roundly rejected internationally.

But Zelensky has taken care to voice support for Trump's diplomacy after a disastrous February 28 White House meeting where Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated him for allegedly being ungrateful for US assistance.

Zelensky had been due to sign the minerals agreement at the White House but was abruptly shown the door after the stunning on-camera feud.

Trump had originally sought $500 billion in mineral wealth -- around four times what the United States has contributed to Ukraine since the war.

Ukraine holds some five percent of the world's mineral resources and rare earths, according to various estimates. But work has not yet started on tapping many of the resources and many sites are in territory now controlled by Russian forces.

Ukraine has around 20 percent of the world's graphite, which is essential to electric batteries, according to France's Bureau of Geological and Mining Research.

Ukraine is also a major producer of manganese and titanium and says it possesses the largest lithium deposits in Europe.

Russia controls about 20 percent of Ukraine's territory after more than three years of brutal fighting that has killed tens of thousands including civilians.

Ukraine launched a surprise incursion last August into Russia's Kursk region. Moscow claimed to have fully cleared out Ukrainian forces over the weekend.

Russia said Wednesday that 288 civilians died during the Kursk incursion.

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I.Matar--SF-PST