Kyiv CNN  — 

A draft deal between the United States and Ukraine over rare earth minerals and other natural resources is “not the one President Zelensky would accept,” according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

“It is a strange offer to try and take from a country that is a victim of war, more than it cost to pay for its defence,” the source told CNN.

The US is trying to gain access to Ukraine’s critical minerals and other resources as part of wider negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. In return, Ukraine has been pushing for security guarantees, with Kyiv not only keen to see the return of lost territory but protection against a possible future Russian invasion.

Ukraine was not invited to talks between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia and this week President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump have been locked in an escalating war of words.

Trump falsely accused Zelensky of starting the Ukraine war, while the Ukrainian leader hit back, saying the US president lives in a “disinformation space.”

A drone view shows the open pit mine of Zavallievsky Graphite, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zavallia, Ukraine, February 10, 2025.

Ukrainians are still trying to negotiate amendments to the deal because the current draft “does not foresee any American obligations while Ukraine is expected to provide everything,” the source said.

The source spoke after an official in the Ukrainian Presidential Administration told Ukrainian state broadcaster Suspilne that there would be no signing of the agreement on rare earth metals Saturday.

Work had continued on the document “all night” but was held up by the issue of “security guarantees,” Suspilne reported.

The continued Ukrainian resistance to signing the deal in its current form comes after days of intense pressure from the Trump administration, whose National Security Advisor Mike Waltz even highlighted the case of an aluminium mine that could meet all the US’s annual needs if refurbished with American investment.

Such a deal would reduce US dependency on China, and provide significant incentive for the United States to boost Ukrainian security, a US official familiar with negotiations told CNN.

“The draft deal provides America with financial guarantees and therefore security guarantees for Ukraine,” said the official, casting the controversial potential agreement as a reason for the United States to be invested in Ukrainian defense.

“Our countries are more aligned as a result and America will receive access to critical materials, materials we won’t have to rely on China for,” the official said. “Once resources start flowing, America will have even more incentive to protect Ukraine.”

The official described the role of Trump’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, as instrumental in getting the deal this far down the track.

Also on Saturday Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, posted that he had spoken with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio “to continue the results-oriented Ukraine-US dialogue.”

“Ahead of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale aggression, I underscored Ukraine’s strong will to achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace — one that will strengthen Ukraine and the US.”