Eve Warburton and Olga Boichak

(FILES) In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on April 26, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) meets with US President Donald Trump (L) on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. The United States and Ukraine on April 30, 2025 signed a minerals deal after a two-month delay, in what President Donald Trump's administration called a new form of US commitment to Kyiv after the end of military aid. Ukraine said it secured key interests after protracted negotiations, including full sovereignty over its own rare earths, which are vital for new technologies and largely untapped. (Photo by Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Why Zelensky – not Trump – may have ‘won’ the US-Ukraine minerals deal

LAST week, the Trump administration signed a deal with Kyiv that gives it privileged access to Ukraine’s natural resources.