US President Donald Trump‘s national security adviser thinks Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will sign a raw materials agreement with the United States.
“Look, here’s the bottom line – President Zelensky is going to sign that deal,” Mike Waltz told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which was meeting outside Washington on Friday.
“And you will see that in the very short term, and that is good for Ukraine,” he added.
Waltz called Trump a “deal maker,” and noted that Zelensky had proposed the partnership on raw materials last year.
Trump has linked US aid to Ukraine, which has been invaded by Russia, with access to its rare earth reserves. The deposits are considered to be economically lucrative and strategically important.
However, Zelensky has rejected an initial draft of the contract from Washington. According to reports, the US is demanding 50% of the income from these raw materials as payment for the military aid provided so far.