President Donald Trump‘s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff believes an agreement with Ukraine regarding its rare earth minerals will be signed this week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially declined the offer brought to him by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which caused a rift between the two countries that devolved into Trump calling Zelensky a “dictator,” with the U.S. leader also claiming Zelensky was responsible for Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.
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The two sides have continued the negotiations despite the frustration from the Trump administration, and Witkoff predicted on Sunday that a deal would be finalized this week.
“I expect to see a deal signed this week,” Witkoff, who has participated in discussions on the deal, said on CNN’s State of the Union. “You saw President Zelensky waver in his commitment towards that a week ago; the president sent a message to him, he’s not wavering anymore. I think there’s a reason he’s not wavering. It’s because he realizes that we have done so much, and that agreement belongs being signed, and I think you’ll see it signed this week.”
Trump administration officials have described the offer as a long-term economic partnership, though many details remain unclear.
“We discussed this issue about the mineral rights, and we explained to them, ‘look, we want to be in a joint venture with you’ not cause we’re trying to steal from your country, but because we think that’s actually a security guarantee,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview on X with Catherine Herridge. “If we’re your partner in an important economic endeavor, we get to be paid back some of the money the taxpayers have given, close to $200 billion, and now we have a vested interest in the security of Ukraine.”
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The negotiators from the U.S. and Ukraine are “working on a draft agreement between our governments,” Zelensky said on Friday. “This agreement can add value to our relations—what matters most is getting the details right to ensure it truly works.”
In the aftermath of the Ukrainian leader’s initial refusal to sign the deal, Trump argued that he was responsible for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a sentiment that significantly contradicts the version of events agreed upon by the Western world.
Zelensky then accused the president of living in a “disinformation space,” which multiple administration officials said frustrated Trump, and they urged the Ukrainian leader to “tone it down.”
Many aspects of the deal remain unknown, though Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reiterated on Sunday that it would not require the U.S. to have a military footprint in Ukraine.
Witkoff, Rubio, and Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia last week without including Ukrainian representation. They agreed to restart diplomatic norms, and the U.S. officials teased possible long-term improvements in the U.S.-Russia relationship.
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Witkoff did not specify any concessions the U.S. expects Russia to make to end the war, but he said “each side is going to make” them.
“I think there’s a whole array of things that happen in a deal, and you’ll see concessions from both sides,” he said.