US president says he expects Ukrainian leader to sign agreement on Friday.

Speaking from the White House on Tuesday, Trump confirmed previous reports that he had negotiated an agreement with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to extract these essential minerals.

“I’ve been informed that he’s scheduled to arrive on Friday. I’m okay with that if he wishes to come. He would also like to sign it along with me, and I understand it’s a huge deal,” Trump informed reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump estimates the agreement could be worth $1 trillion and stated that it would ensure American taxpayers “get their money back, plus”.

“We’re currently spending hundreds of billions of dollars on Russia and Ukraine to wage a war that should have never taken place.”

When asked what Kyiv would gain from this, Trump referenced the $350bn worth of aid he claims has already been provided, “military equipment and the right to defend themselves”.

The US Congress allocated $174bn for Ukraine between 2022 and 2024, as reported by the Congressional Research Service.

Trump’s comments came following reports that Washington and Kyiv had reached an agreement after Zelenskyy had previously rejected a draft that would have let the US acquire rights to Ukraine’s natural resources.

While the full details of the agreement remain unconfirmed, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher stated that drafts of the deal were circulating in the media, suggesting the US would obtain 50% of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals once Ukraine had exhausted $500bn for economic improvement.

According to Fisher, the unconfirmed drafts indicated that Washington would “make a long-term financial commitment to develop a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine”.

“What appears to be missing are any security guarantees. This agreement is primarily financial,” Fisher noted.

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