Donald Trump news: ‘Memorandum of intent’ as Zelensky says Ukraine-US minerals deal is close

Ukraine and the US could imminently sign online a memorandum of intent on the minerals deal currently being negotiated by the two countries, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

President Donald Trump has pushed for a deal that would allow the United States to have privileged access to Ukraine’s natural resources and critical minerals in what he casts as repayment for military aid provided by Washington to Ukraine under the previous presidency of Joe Biden.

The Ukrainian delegation traveled to Washington at the end of last week for negotiations after the Trump administration offered a new, more expansive deal. The initial framework agreement that was agreed to has never been signed.

“This is a memorandum of intent. And we have positive, constructive intentions,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.

He added that the offer to sign the memorandum before the comprehensive deal, which would require ratification in the Ukrainian parliament, had come from the US side.

Ukraine’s economy minister has said Kyiv and Washington made significant progress while discussing the agreement, and the memorandum is the first stage to record this.

Also on Thursday, Zelensky said Kyiv had intelligence which showed China is supplying artillery and gunpowder to Russia.

“We believe that Chinese representatives are engaged in the production of some weapons on the territory of Russia,” he told the press conference.

Zelensky did not specify whether he meant artillery systems or shells.

The allegation is likely to upend relations between Kyiv and Beijing, already strained by Ukraine’s making public its capture of Chinese nationals fighting for Russia. China has so far tried to maintain an outward perception of neutrality in the three-year war prompted by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine has previously called on China to use its influence over Russia to push it towards peace.

“We already have facts about this work by China and Russia to strengthen their defence capabilities,” Zelensky said, voicing his dismay as he said Chinese President Xi Jinping had promised him Beijing would not sell or supply weapons to Moscow.

Meanwhile, while Zelensky admitted Russia had reduced the number of its strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, he said it was attacking civilian infrastructure instead.

Russia and Ukraine agreed last month to a US-brokered, 30-day moratorium on military strikes against energy infrastructure, but both sides have frequently accused each other since of violating it.

Zelensky said Russia was launching the same number of missiles and drones at Ukraine as before that ceasefire.

“They reduced their strikes on energy, that’s a fact,” Zelensky said.

“But I wanted us to pay attention to this – Russia did not reduce the number of strikes ... they are hitting other civilian infrastructure.”

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and now holds just under 20 per cent of its neighbour’s territory.