The administration of the US President Donald Trump and Ukraine plan to sign a minerals deal that fell through after a disastrous Oval Office meeting on Friday in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was dismissed from the building.
Trump had told his advisers that he wanted to announce the agreement in his address to Congress on Tuesday evening.
However, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, when asked on Tuesday about the minerals deal, said there is no signing planned.
The White House has not yet commented on the development.
Similarly, Ukraine’s presidential administration in Kyiv and the Ukrainian embassy in Washington have not made any comment on the issue.
Recall that the deal was put on hold on Friday after a contentious Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy that resulted in the Ukrainian leader’s swift departure from the White House.
Zelenskyy had traveled to Washington to sign the deal.
In that meeting, Trump and Vice President JD Vance criticized Zelenskyy, telling him he should thank the US for its support rather than asking for additional aid in front of the US media.
“You’re gambling with World War Three,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Zelenskyy posted on X that Ukraine was ready to sign the deal and called the Oval Office meeting regrettable.
“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be.
“Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” Zelenskyy said in his post
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