As we’ve just reported, Ukraine and the US are expected to reach an agreement on a deal for Ukraine’s natural minerals soon – but what does that mean?

Donald Trump says the US is seeking access to Ukraine’s minerals in return for previous aid – with Ukraine insisting on security guarantees going forward.

Last week, Volodymyr Zelensky rejected a US demand for $500bn in mineral wealth, saying nowhere near that much aid had been provided, adding: “I can’t sell our state.”

A deal now seems to be close – but it’s not yet known which minerals it would cover, how much the US would try to recoup from previous aid, and what any future “security guarantee” could look like.

Ukraine holds huge deposits of critical elements and minerals, including lithium and titanium, as well as sizeable coal, gas, oil and uranium deposits – supplies worth billions of dollars.

Last year, Zelensky presented his “victory plan” to Ukraine and its western partners, which proposed that foreign firms could gain access to some of the countries’ mineral wealth at the end of the war.

It said “strategic partners” could receive a “special agreement for the joint protection of the country’s critical resources, as well as joint investment and use of this economic potential”.

It was one of five points he put forward – which included an invitation for Ukraine to join Nato.