What we know about US-Ukraine minerals deal

Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine is ready to sign a deal with the US over his country's mineral deposits, days after he was told to leave the White House following a fiery exchange with Donald Trump and US Vice-President JD Vance.

The deal was expected to be signed during Zelensky's visit to Washington, but was put on hold after the meeting in front of journalists and TV cameras turned into a shouting match.

The relationship between the two leaders showed little sign of improving in the days afterwards, with the US announcing it was pausing all military aid to Ukraine.

Hours after that announcement, Zelensky posted a lengthy message on social media expressing his gratitude for American support for Ukraine, and saying his country was ready to sign the minerals deal at "any time and in any convenient format".

In a speech to Congress, Trump said he appreciated the message from Zelensky, but it is currently unclear if or when the deal will be signed.

Multiple sources have told the BBC's US partner CBS News that the terms of the deal have not yet been finalised and could change from a previous version, which was published by Ukrainian media, external before Zelensky's meeting with Trump and Vance.

That version of the deal envisages that an "investment fund" will be set up for Ukraine's reconstruction, which Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said would be managed by Kyiv and Washington on "equal terms".

According to the text, Ukraine will contribute 50% of future proceeds from state-owned mineral resources, oil and gas to the fund, and the fund will then invest "to promote the safety, security and prosperity of Ukraine".

Meanwhile, the agreement says the US government will, subject to US law, "maintain a long-term financial commitment to the development of a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine".

The US will own the maximum amount of the fund allowed under US law, the agreement says.

In the days before the deal was supposed to be signed, disagreement over its terms formed part of a deepening rift between Trump and Zelensky.

The Ukrainian president rejected an initial request from the US for $500bn (£395bn) in mineral wealth, but this demand was dropped from the version published online.

"The US administration started with a deal that challenged Ukraine's sovereignty, then pushed an exploitative one that would bankrupt the country," Tymofiy Mylovanov, a former minister and head of Kyiv school of economics, told the BBC.

"Now, they've shifted to a reasonable deal with co-ownership and no direct claims on past aid. That could actually benefit Ukraine."

Trump has repeatedly claimed the US has given Ukraine between $300bn (£237bn) and $350bn (£276bn) in aid, and that he wanted to "get that money back" through a deal.

But German think tank the Kiel Institute estimates the US has sent $119bn in aid to Ukraine.

Zelensky has been pushing for a deal to include a firm security guarantee from the US.

No such guarantee has yet been made, although the published text says the US supports "Ukraine's efforts to obtain security guarantees to build lasting peace".

Trump has suggested the presence of US contractors in Ukraine would act as a security guarantee, but responsibility for Ukraine's security would now fall to Europe.

The prospect of a minerals deal was first proposed by Zelensky last year as a way to offer the US a tangible reason to continue supporting Ukraine.

Trump initially said Ukraine would get "the right to fight on" in return for access to its minerals, but in the days after the spat in Washington he paused all US military aid to Ukraine.

Trump had said the two would sign the deal at the meeting at the White House.

Ukrainian PM Shmyhal said the US and Ukraine had prepared a final version of the agreement, though Zelensky aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said only a framework agreement was due to be signed.

But nothing at all was signed during the visit, which instead descended into a heated exchange between Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office.

At one point, a furious Trump said Zelensky was not grateful enough for the US's support during the war, and that he was "gambling with World War Three".

He said Zelensky had to "make a deal or we're out", adding: "You don't have the cards."

Zelensky said there should be "no compromises" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Not long after - and well ahead of schedule - the Ukrainian president was seen leaving the White House.

The White House then announced the deal had not been agreed - and said Trump had decided to call off the signing ceremony himself.

The US president wrote on his Truth Social platform that Zelensky had "disrespected the US in its cherished Oval Office". He added: "He can come back when he is ready for peace."

It is currently unclear when the deal might be signed.

Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world's "critical raw materials" are in Ukraine.

This includes some 19 million tonnes of proven reserves of graphite, which the Ukrainian Geological Survey state agency says makes the nation "one of the top five leading countries" for the supply of the mineral. Graphite is used to make batteries for electric vehicles.

Ukraine also has significant deposits of titanium and lithium. It says it has substantial amounts of the world's rare earth metals - a group of 17 elements that are used to produce weapons, wind turbines, electronics and other products vital in the modern world - but these claims are disputed.

Also, some of the country's mineral deposits have been seized by Russia. According to Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's economy minister, resources worth $350bn (£277bn) remain in occupied territories today.

There are warnings too that a deal allowing the US access to Ukraine's vast mineral wealth cannot happen unless the country addresses its problem with unexploded mines.

A quarter of Ukraine's land mass is estimated to be contaminated with landmines, mainly concentrated in the war-torn east of the country.

Another issue is it will be some time before anyone sees any material benefits from the deal.

"These resources aren't in a port or warehouse; they must be developed," says Mylovanov. "In that sense if the US invests, it will benefit everyone."

Before the deal was supposed to be signed, Vladimir Putin told state TV he was ready to "offer" resources to American partners in joint projects, including mining in Russia's "new territories" - a reference to parts of eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia since its full-scale invasion three years ago.

Putin said a potential US-Ukraine deal on rare minerals was not a concern and that Russia "undoubtedly have, I want to emphasise, significantly more resources of this kind than Ukraine".

"As for the new territories, it's the same. We are ready to attract foreign partners to the so-called new, to our historical territories, which have returned to the Russian Federation," he added.