Many details still to be settled, but Kyiv feels it has cause for optimism over minerals deal

Notably absent from the final text was the insistence that Ukraine should repay previous military US assistance via the agreement

- Shaun Walker

here is cautious optimism in Kyiv over the terms of the long-discussed US-Ukraine minerals agreement, signed on Wednesday, which appear to be more advantageous for Ukraine than most had expected. Many details are still to be finalised, suggesting that the long saga over the deal may not be quite over. But Ukrainian analysts have noted that Kyiv has apparently been able to extract some major concessions, despite Donald Trump's repeated claim that Ukraine "has no cards" to play.

Hopes that the deal would increase goodwill in the Trump administration were also borne out with yesterday's announcement of a proposed $50m (£37.5m) sale of US military equipment. "Ukraine held the line. Despite enormous pressure, every overreaching demand from the other side was dropped. The final deal looks fair," Tymofiy Mylovanov, the president of the Kyiv School of Economics, wrote on X.