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(KYIV) — A Ukrainian official described to ABC News details of a potential U.S.-Ukraine mineral deal, sharing points that appear to suggest Kyiv has succeeded in significantly improving the terms, perhaps staring down some of the Trump administration’s more onerous demands.
The $500 billion demanded by Trump no longer features in the draft, a Ukrainian official told ABC News. The fund that Ukraine will pay into is also no longer going to be 100% U.S. owned, the official said.
The two countries have agreed to a deal relating to critical minerals and other resources, a senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump did not confirm the U.S. had agreed, instead saying he had heard Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Washington, D.C., to finalize the deal on Friday and that “it’s OK with me if he’d like to.”
The terms of a final agreement haven’t yet been disclosed.
The Ukrainian official said the resources that the agreement will apply to are only those not currently contributing to the Ukrainian budget, which means no oil and gas, or likely the majority of the country’s mineral resources.
If the final deal remains close to those terms, the deal may actually be quite restricted in real economic terms.
Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister and co-chair of the European council on foreign relations, told BBC News that the mineral seems like a “sideshow” and was mostly designed to “keep Mr Trump happy.”
“But it is not going to give a lot of money to the U.S., and I don’t see it having any materially economic effect for very many years,” Bildt told the BBC.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
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