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US, Ukraine agree to terms of critical minerals deal
One of the sources familiar with the deal said future weapons shipments are still being discussed between Washington and Kyiv.
The U.S. and Ukraine have agreed on the terms of a draft minerals deal central to Kyiv’s push to win Washington’s support as President Donald Trump seeks to rapidly end the war with Russia, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
A source familiar with the contents of the draft agreement said that it does not specify any U.S. security guarantees or continued flow of weapons but says that the United States wants Ukraine to be “free, sovereign and secure.”
One of the sources familiar with the deal said future weapons shipments are still being discussed between Washington and Kyiv.
Trump told reporters that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants to come to Washington on Friday to sign a “very big deal.” This came after the two leaders exchanged hostile words last week.
The U.S. president, who has cast the deal as a repayment for billions of dollars in aid to Kyiv, also said some form of peacekeeping troops are needed in Ukraine if an agreement to end the conflict is struck. Moscow, which launched an invasion of Ukraine three years ago, has refused to accept any deployment of NATO forces.
Some European countries have said they would be willing to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine. Trump said on Monday that Moscow would accept such peacekeepers, but the Kremlin denied that on Tuesday.
Trump’s rush to impose an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and his lurch toward Moscow has stoked fears of far-reaching U.S. concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin that could undermine security in Ukraine and Europe and alter the geopolitical landscape.
Trump last week falsely called Zelenskiy an unpopular “dictator” who needed to cut a quick peace deal or lose his country. The Ukrainian leader said the U.S. president was living in a “disinformation bubble.”
Officials on both sides have agreed to the draft and advised it should be signed, the sources said.
The deal could open up Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth to the U.S.
“What we’re doing is now we’re saying, look, we want to be secured,” Trump said. “The American taxpayer now is going to get their money back, plus.”
Zelenskiy refused to sign an earlier draft of a minerals agreement as Washington sought rights to $500 billion in Ukraine’s natural wealth. Kyiv protested it had received far less than that in U.S. aid and the deal lacked the security guarantees Ukraine needs.
Under the terms of a draft minerals agreement, according to sources familiar with its contents, the United States and Ukraine would establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund to collect and reinvest revenues from Ukrainian sources including minerals, hydrocarbons and other extractable materials.
Ukraine would contribute to the fund 50% of the revenue minus operating expenses and continue until the contributions reach the sum of $500 billion. The United States would provide a long-term financial commitment to the development of a “stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.”
Asked what Ukraine would get in return for the minerals deal, Trump cited what he said was $350 billion already provided by the U.S. “and lots of … military equipment and the right to fight on.”
Scott Anderson, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said that while the minerals deal would look like “a kind of piracy” to much of the world it is necessary to get buy-in from Trump and Republican lawmakers.
“They say this gives him (Trump) real skin in the game. I think there is real logic to that,” Anderson said.
“I hear that he’s coming on Friday,” Trump told reporters. “Certainly it’s okay with me if he’d like to. And he would like to sign it together with me.”
European officials have been left flat-footed by Trump’s decisions to hold talks on ending the war in Ukraine with Russia, spurning both Kyiv and Europe, and by his administration’s warning that the U.S. was no longer primarily focused on Europe’s security.
A White House meeting could give Zelenskiy a chance to make his case for continued U.S. support directly to Trump, who last week falsely accused Kyiv of starting the war.
Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the European Union as critical, according to Ukrainian data. They include industrial and construction materials, ferroalloy, precious and non-ferrous metals, and some rare earth elements.
Ukraine’s reserves of graphite, a key component in electric vehicle batteries and nuclear reactors, represent 20% of global resources.
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Afghans turn to riverbed gold hunting amid scarce jobs
Hundreds of men in eastern Afghanistan are scouring riverbeds for tiny flecks of gold as they seek alternative sources of income in a country with limited employment opportunities, according to recent reports.
In Kunar province, along the rugged slopes of the Hindu Kush near Pakistan, groups of workers dig into the rocky bed of the Kunar River, sifting through stones and sediment in search of gold dust.
The labour-intensive process involves excavating rocks from dry sections of the riverbed and washing them with water to separate out potential gold particles. In some areas, men carry heavy sacks of material down steep slopes before filtering it through sieves and pans.
For many, the work is driven by economic necessity. One miner, a father of eight who left construction work in Kabul, said the lack of job opportunities had forced him to find income wherever possible.
Despite the effort, returns are modest. Gold pieces are often “smaller than a grain of wheat,” though some workers report finding up to one gram in a week, which can fetch around 8,000 Afghanis (about $125).
Gold panning in the region has been practiced for more than a decade, with techniques passed on from miners in other parts of the country. Local officials estimate that thousands of people are now engaged in the activity, which is permitted when done using traditional methods.
Authorities have, however, faced pressure from residents to curb the use of heavy machinery in mining, citing concerns about environmental damage to rivers and surrounding mountains.
Afghanistan’s mineral resources have long been underdeveloped due to decades of conflict, but interest in the sector has grown in recent years, with authorities promoting mining as a potential driver of economic activity.
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Uzbekistan, Norway stress continued dialogue on Afghanistan settlement
The two sides also exchanged views on Afghanistan’s economic recovery and discussed prospects for integrating the country into broader regional connectivity initiatives.
Uzbekistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ismatulla Irgashev, held talks with Norway’s newly appointed ambassador, Helene Sand Andresen, focusing on efforts to sustain dialogue on Afghanistan’s future, officials said.
According to Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry, the meeting centred on the current state of bilateral cooperation related to Afghanistan and underscored a shared commitment to maintaining regular engagement on the Afghan settlement process.
Andresen praised Uzbekistan’s role in promoting a coordinated regional approach to Afghanistan, highlighting Tashkent’s efforts to build consensus among neighbouring countries.
The two sides also exchanged views on Afghanistan’s economic recovery and discussed prospects for integrating the country into broader regional connectivity initiatives.
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IEA FM discusses recent Kabul–Islamabad talks in China with Saudi ambassador
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Kabul, Faisal bin Talq Al-Baqmi, discussed regional developments and recent talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan held in the Chinese city of Urumqi during a meeting on Wednesday.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Muttaqi briefed the Saudi ambassador on the recent negotiations with the Pakistani side in Urumqi and expressed hope that interpretative differences and minor technical issues would not hinder the progress of the negotiation process.
He described relations between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia as positive and voiced hope that ties between the two brotherly countries would further expand in the political, security, and economic fields.
The Saudi ambassador also said that political and security stability, as well as economic development in Afghanistan, are of great importance to his country, adding that Riyadh supports Afghanistan in these areas.
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