US President Donald Trump says mineral deal with Ukraine to be signed 'very shortly'

President Donald Trump has said his administration would soon sign a mineral deal with Ukraine which will allow the US to gain a partial share of profits from future resource extraction.

“One of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine … They have tremendous value in rare earths, and we appreciate that,” Trump said during his address at the White House on March 20.

Earlier this month, both Ukraine and the US had announced that they would quickly finalize the agreement to develop the former’s critical mineral resources, which Trump sees as a way to repay the US support to the war-torn country.

This announcement came a few days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump along with Vice-President JD Vance had a verbal spat.

Post the verbal spat at the Oval Office in the White House, President Trump had ordered to suspend all military aid to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Trump has also said he has signed an executive order to boost the production of critical minerals in the US, calling it a “big thing in this country”.

The order directs federal agencies to search for mines and government-owned land that could be exploited to boost the production of critical minerals.

The order leverages the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law that gives Washington broad authority to mobilize industrial resources for national security purposes.

Trump said his government was securing agreements in various locations to get access to rare earth minerals used in the manufacturing of electronics, batteries and magnets, among others.

On March 19, press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the US is not just restricted to the economic minerals deal framework but is looking towards a long-term peace agreement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"We spoke yesterday with President Putin and President Zelenskyy, and we would love to see this come to an end. I think we're doing pretty well in that regard. Hopefully, we can save thousands of people a week from dying. They're dying so unnecessarily, and I believe we'll get it done. We'll see what happens, but I believe we'll get it done," he said.