The fund would compensate the US for its assistance provided to the war-torn nation since the start of Russia’s invasion. Ukraine is arguing that the actual amount is about five times lower at more than US$90 billion, said the person who asked not to be named because the talks are private. 

Negotiators need more time to finalise the deal, as the current draft agreement proposed by the US has some questionable elements and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy isn’t ready to approve it, another person with knowledge of the talks said.

US President Donald Trump has piled pressure on Zelenskiy to accept the deal that’s been coming together against the background of escalating tensions between the two leaders, and growing worries that Ukraine will be shut out of eventual peace talks. 

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote in the the Financial Times on Saturday that the deal proposes that revenue received by the government in Kyiv from natural resources, infrastructure and other assets, is allocated to a fund focused on long-term reconstruction and development of Ukraine, in which the US will have economic and governance rights. 

This would ensure the transparency, accountability and corporate governance necessary to attract private investment, Bessent wrote. 

“Let’s also be clear as to what this is not. The US would not be taking ownership of physical assets in Ukraine,” Bessent wrote. “Nor would it be saddling Ukraine with more debt.”

Ukrainian officials discussed the potential minerals accord with US special envoy Keith Kellogg during his visit to Kyiv this week, after Zelenskiy rejected an initial offer from Washington earlier in the month. The proposal envisaged securing 50% of licence sales and other proceeds from the minerals, oil, gas and ports, which critics denounced as reminiscent of colonialism of centuries past.

There is currently no such a straightforward demand, but the lack of assurances of future military and financial aid remains a sticking point in the talks, the Ukrainian official said.

Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg Television earlier this week that the minerals deal would lay the groundwork for a plan put forward by Trump to end the war by binding Ukraine to the US through economic ties, thereby providing a security shield. 

Addressing a Conservative Political Action Conference audience outside Washington, Trump said “we’re going to get our money back” and “we’re asking for rare earth and oil — anything we can get”.

“I think we’re pretty close to [a] deal — and we’d better be close to a deal,” he said.

The US pressure on Ukraine to sign the deal comes as Trump has made a series of statements that have put Zelenskiy in an uncomfortable spot. 

The US president has also signalled that he wants to reach a deal with Moscow on how to end the conflict without Ukraine at the table, and called the democratically elected Zelenskiy a “dictator” with a 4% approval rating. 

The Ukrainian leader, whose approval stood at 57% in a recent poll, fired back, saying the US president had fallen for Russian “disinformation”.

Kyiv would ideally want a final deal on the minerals to be signed in the presence of the US and Ukrainian presidents, according to the person familiar with the talks. Zelenskiy, who met with Kellogg on Thursday, has pushed for a meeting with Trump before any potential sit-down the US leader has with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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