On Friday the United States and Ukraine announced they signed a preliminary outline of the rare-earths mineral deal, indicating the final deal is expected to be signed soon. While President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko have both announced the progress toward a diplomatic and economic agreement which can bring about a ceasefire and peace in the war, a key figure absent at the decision making table was the country’s Dictator Vladimir Zelensky.
“We have a minerals deal which I guess is going to be signed … next Thursday,” Trump said. “And I assume they’re going to live up to the deal. So we’ll see. But we have a deal on that.”
Ukraine has also confirmed the preliminary agreement.
“We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine,” Sviridenko wrote.
We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/AQsHPkWh5X
— Yulia Svyrydenko (@Svyrydenko_Y) April 17, 2025
Previously, the Dictator went to Washington where he insulted America in the White House, then refused to sign the deal and was escorted out of the building. Following his diplomatic debacle, Zelensky managed to continue botching the deal, going so far as to even have a number of provisions for his country removed from it.
Ukraine’s Dictator has now been kept away from botching this preliminary financial cooperation framework. In addition, the final signing will reportedly be done by lawmakers, not Zelensky.
“Svyrydenko said Ukrainian and American teams would work to firm up the final text of the agreement to be signed, before it is put before lawmakers,” Newsweek said Friday.
Despite Zelensky’s reluctance for peace, determined talks toward ending the war got underway without him in early April. Due to the Dictator being sidelined from the negotiations, Trump has been making progress toward a ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev, via his mineral deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that while he will not sign agreements with the “illegitimate” government of Ukraine, he is however open to signing agreements with a U.S./E.U./U.N.-controlled Ukrainian government. Trump’s mineral deal will create a U.S. presence in Ukraine as well as a vested interest in Kiev’s government, potentially increasing the ability for diplomacy between the two warring nations.
On April 7 it was reported that Kiev will send a ‘team’ to Washington to negotiate a deal without their Dictator present. Leaving the Dictator behind has appeared to pay off.
Not surprisingly, Trump is not a big fan of the Dictator.
Trump is not a big fan of Zelensky: pic.twitter.com/RBP16lJDKh
— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) April 18, 2025