Ukrainian President's Office chief reports constructive talks with US on mineral resources agreement

The first part of this is a partnership between Ukraine and the U.S. that involves strategic minerals, energy and state-owned enterprises, where we set up a partnership, and we are only looking forward,

Bessent said during this week's "Sunday Morning Futures."

I call it an economic security guarantee. The more assets that U.S. companies have on the ground, the bigger interest that the U.S. has in the future of Ukrainian economy doing well, the more security it creates for the Ukrainian people and the higher the return for the U.S. taxpayer,

he said

Andriy Yermakchief of staff

We are making progress in our work. We are having a constructive discussion. The US is our partner, and we are grateful to the American people, grateful for bipartisan support – you have been with us for all three years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine."

Quote from Yermak

The deal will be signed,

Bessent said in an interview on Fox News on Sunday

The war didn't need to happen. It was provoked. It doesn't necessarily mean it was provoked by the Russians. There were all kinds of conversations back then about Ukraine joining NATO. That didn't need to happen. It basically became a threat to the Russians,

Witkoff told CNN on Sunday

The terms of our partnership propose that revenue received by the government of Ukraine from natural resources, infrastructure and other assets is allocated to a fund focused on the long-term reconstruction and development of Ukraine where the US will have economic and governance rights in those future investments,

Bessent wrote

Ukraine is endowed with natural resources and other national assets that can drive its postwar economic growth, but only if its government and people are armed with sufficient capital, expertise and the right incentives,

Bessent added

This partnership will support the US’s continued commitment to the people of Ukraine as well as lay the foundation for a robust reconstruction of the Ukrainian economy,

he wrote

I think we're pretty close to a deal,

Trump told a gathering of conservatives in National Harbor, Maryland, on the outskirts of Washington

There are no American obligations in the agreement regarding guarantees or investments, everything about them is very vague, and they want to extract $500 billion from us,

a Ukrainian source told AFP of the proposed minerals deal

I want to have our money secured, because we're spending hundreds of billions of dollars..."

Trump said in a Fox News interview aired last week

In the form in which the draft is now, the president is not ready to accept, we are still trying to make changes and add constructiveness,

a Ukrainian source close to the matter told AFP Saturday

Today, the teams of Ukraine and the United States are working on a draft agreement between our governments,

Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address

Michael Waltznational security adviser

Here's the bottom line, President Zelenskiy is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term,

Waltz told the Conservative Political Action Conference on the outskirts of Washington

The main conclusion is that Europe must and can do considerably more so that peace can realistically be achieved,

he said

VOA has been telling America's story to the world for 83 years this Monday. Sometimes the coverage has been incredible and sometimes it's been pitiful,

Lake said

We're still surrounded by too many fake journalists out there,

Lake said

They still pretend the 2020 election was the most secure election in all of history.”

She criticized Associated Press reporting on government officials and independent bodies who validated the results of the 2020 election, saying

Watching what President Trump has accomplished and done in one month is so incredible,

Lake said, referring to actions by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency and the State Department to search for corruption and curtail spending, including by ending foreign aid funding

We won't become Trump TV, ... but it sure as hell will not be ‘TDS TV.’ You can find all the Trump Derangement Syndrome that you want over on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, '60 Minutes,' The Washington Post and The New York Times.”

she said