US expects mineral deal with Ukraine to be signed this week: special envoy Steve Witkoff

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday they expected that an agreement would be signed this week on US access to Ukraine’s critical mineral deposits.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wavered “in his commitment towards that a week ago”, Witkoff said in a CNN State of the Union interview, referring to the Ukrainian leader’s rejection of the original US proposal. “The president [Trump] sent the message to him. He’s not wavering any more.”

Zelensky realised “that we have done so much [for Ukraine] … and I think you’ll see it [the deal] signed this week”, Witkoff said.

Zelensky had previously rejected US demands for US$500 billion in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay Washington for wartime aid, saying the US had supplied nowhere near that sum.

“The deal will be signed,” Bessent said in an interview on Fox News on Sunday, adding he was “hopeful” it will happen in the coming week.

The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff said on Sunday the next round of negotiations with the United States over a deal will continue.

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