US proposes new minerals deal to Ukraine, says Zelensky

KYIV - Washington has proposed a new version of the minerals deal to Kyiv based on a previous framework agreement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday.

"After the framework deal, a full agreement is being developed. Now the United States has offered us a 'major' deal," he said.

Describing the US proposal as a "large, complete agreement" and "the vision of the American side," Zelensky said the details "are not yet available."

He said that the new version of the agreement doesn't include the US involvement in Ukraine's nuclear power plants, which US President Donald Trump suggested last week.

On March 20, Trump said that a rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine would be signed "very shortly." The initial deal, scheduled to be signed in Washington at the end of February to grant Washington access to Ukraine's mineral deposits, was halted following a heated exchange between the two leaders in the White House.

Meanwhile, Zelensky said that territorial issues were not part of the latest negotiations between Ukraine and the United States in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. "There are no territorial issues, so it does not matter what they (the Russians) say," he said.