Trump and Zelensky have made an agreement: everything we know so far

The New York Times reports that the governments of the United States and Ukraine have reached an agreement on minerals, something which Washington demanded to continue supporting Kyiv in its war against Russian invaders.

According to The New York Times, the Kyiv government has agreed to turn over the revenue of some of its mineral resources after an intense campaign from the White House that included insults and threats.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had rejected previous proposals that lacked security guarantees and included demands of up to 500 billion US dollars on mineral rights, along with other provisions described by The New York Times as unacceptable.

The BBC reveals that the White House has dropped the request of 500 billion US dollars, but still has not provided Kyiv with firm security guarantees.

"I can't sell our state", Zelensky declared, per the BBC. The Ukrainian President had first raised the prospect of trading the country’s mineral wealth with western partners as part of his victory plan.

“We want to get that money back,” Trump had previously said, as quoted by the BBC. “We're helping the country through a very, very big problem… but the American taxpayer now is going to get their money back and plus”.

The American and Ukrainian Presidents are expected to meet in the following days, despite recent friction between the two governments. “Better move fast, or he is not going to have a country left”, Trump remarked, per The New York Times.

According to the BBC, just a few days before, Trump had called Zelensky a dictator and hinted that Kyiv was responsible for the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Al Jazeera informs that, although the details of the agreement has not been fully revealed, multiple outlets claim that Ukraine would contribute 50% of the proceeds of the future monetization of its resources, such as oil and gas, to a jointly owned fund focused on reinvesting in Ukraine.

The New York Times reveals that the United States would own the maximum financial interests allowed by US law, but not necessarily all of it.

According to Al Jazeera, UN data points out that Ukraine holds about 5% of the world’s reserve of rare earths, key minerals for the manufacturing of electronics.

Matthew Sussex, a visiting fellow at the Strategic & Defense Studies Center at the Australian National University, said Al Jazeera that it was a way for Washington and Kyiv to reset their relations after recent friction between Trump and Zelensky.

“As I understand it, the US has considerably watered down its demands. That makes it more palatable to Kyiv, even though there is no security guarantee attached: essentially Ukraine gets nothing, but doesn’t have to give much either,” Sussex told Al Jazeera.

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