The US and Ukraine are close to signing a minerals framework deal as soon as this week, after Kyiv said it secured a significant concession from the Trump administration not to factor in past military aid.
The latest development signals a significant step forward after a signing ceremony on an earlier version of the deal was cancelled in February following the public disagreement in the Oval Office between presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
After that dust-up, Trump insisted that billions of dollars of past US military assistance should be viewed as loans to be repaid through the agreement. Zelenskyy rejected that proposal.