Ukraine 'is going to sign' mineral deal with US, Waltz claims

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "is going to sign" a critical mineral deal in rapid order, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has claimed.

Waltz said on Friday it was Zelenskyy who proposed an economic partnership with the United States on mineral development when he rolled out his victory plan in September, saying many of Ukraine's known deposits are not being developed, and arguing US President Donald Trump is "a deal maker".

"Here's the bottom line. President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term. And that is good for Ukraine. What better could you have for Ukraine than to be in an economic partnership with the United States," Waltz said while addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC.

Ukraine is sitting on massive reserves of critical rare earth minerals that could total trillions of dollars. It holds about five percent of the world's total mineral resources, according to a 2024 World Economic Forum report.

In addition to having one of the largest confirmed reserves of lithium, Ukraine boasts semiconductor-grade neon gas that is critical for chip production, beryllium, uranium, zirconium, apatite, iron ore and manganese.

'Disinformation bubble'

Trump has repeatedly vowed to end Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, blaming both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the conflict, which completed its third year earlier this month.

This week, however, he has gotten into a loud public dispute with Zelenskyy, blaming Ukraine for starting the war and excluding Kiev from the first round of negotiations with Russia in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Zelenskyy, in turn, expressed frustration, claiming that Trump is trapped in a Russian "disinformation bubble". That prompted the US president to launch a full-scale attack on the Ukrainian leader, accusing him of being a "dictator without elections", and Kiev to declare war on Russia, despite the fact that the Kremlin launched what it calls a "special military operation" against Ukraine in February 2022.

The initial push saw Russian forces close in on the Ukrainian capital before they were pushed back.

Frontlines have shifted greatly in the past three years, with Russia establishing a firm foothold in the east where it had been propping up separatist forces since 2014, the same year it illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.