On 25 April, US President Donald Trump publicly criticized Ukraine for not finalizing a minerals deal with the United States, demanding that it be signed immediately.

In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote:

“Ukraine, headed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not signed the final papers on the very important Rare Earths Deal with the United States. It is at least three weeks late. Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY.”

He made the remarks following his comments last week, in which he indicated he had hoped the deal would be signed on 24 April, but on that day Ukrainian economy minister Serhii Marchenko clarified that the agreement had not yet been finalized and would not be signed that week. Marchenko stated that discussions were still ongoing.

In the same Truth Social post, Trump linked the US-backed talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war to the signing of the minerals deal.

“Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly. SUCCESS seems to be in the future!”

Earlier, an anonymous European diplomat suggested that Trump has been pressuring for a Ukraine-Russia peace deal within his first 100 days in office, implying he seeks to credit it as his own achievement.