Eyeing security guarantees from US, Ukraine says yes to minerals deal

Ukraine has agreed on the terms of a minerals deal with the US and could sign it on Feb 28, the two countries said, in a move Kyiv hopes will lay the ground for future security guarantees from Washington.

- 

US President Donald Trump, in part of a dramatic shift of policy that includes reaching out to Russia, has demanded that Ukraine give access to its rare earth minerals to compensate for the billions of dollars of wartime aid it received under former president Joe Biden.

The deal would see the US jointly develop Ukraine's mineral wealth, with revenues going to a newly created fund that would be "joint for Ukraine and America", a senior Ukrainian source told AFP on condition of anonymity late on Feb 25.

The source said the draft of the deal included a reference to "security", but did not explicitly set out the US' commitments one of Kyiv's prior demands for an agreement.