Ukrainian and U.S. government and legal teams continue discussions on the mineral deal, a source in the Presidential Office told the Kyiv Independent on March 31 as U.S. President Donald Trump is escalating his rhetoric on the agreement.
"On Friday (March 28), we spoke with the American side; now we (Ukraine) will discuss it, then (the parties) will talk again," the source said.
The comments came after Trump said on March 30 that he believed President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to back out of the agreement and warned that his refusal would have consequences.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump followed up his comments about the mineral deal by saying that Ukraine continues to hold NATO aspirations, which he presented as hopeless.
"He (Zelensky) wants to be a member of NATO, but he's never going to be a member of NATO. He understands that," Trump said.
According to the Kyiv Independent's source, Ukraine's NATO membership is not a part of the minerals deal.
"We are not tying (the minerals deal to NATO), it's a misunderstanding," they said.
The Financial Times reported on March 27 that the latest version of the agreement proposed by the U.S. includes terms that would grant Washington unprecedented control over Ukraine's natural resources through a joint investment fund.
Ukrainian online newspaper European Pravda also wrote that the deal may contradict Ukraine's EU accession due to severe restrictions affecting Ukraine's economic sovereignty.
Following the news, Zelensky said that Kyiv would not sign the deal if it threatened the country's EU membership and reiterated that he does not consider Washington's aid to Kyiv a debt.
Bloomberg reported on March 29 that Kyiv was requesting changes to the current proposal, including greater investment from the U.S. and more clarity on how the joint fund would operate.
The Trump administration has touted the minerals deal as an essential part of Ukraine's path to peace but has failed to offer concrete security guarantees in exchange for broad access to resources.
Kyiv and Washington were set to sign an earlier version of the agreement on Feb. 28, but the plan fell apart after a heated Oval Office dispute between Zelensky, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance.
The White House has described the minerals deal as a mechanism for the U.S. to "recoup" some of the financial aid it has provided to Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Martin Fornusek
