As U.S. and Ukraine Haggle Over Minerals, Russia Attacks With Drones

Ukraine and the United States remain locked in difficult negotiations over a deal to trade Ukraine’s natural resources for American aid, Ukrainian officials said Sunday morning, as Washington maintains pressure on Kyiv to sign an agreement quickly.

The timing of the talks, which stretched late into Saturday night, according to two Ukrainian officials briefed on the negotiations, coincided with a huge Russian drone assault on Ukrainian cities overnight. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had launched 267 drones, calling it a record since the war began three years ago. That claim could not be independently confirmed.

The buzz of attack drones flying over buildings echoed through the night in central Kyiv, followed by the sound of heavy machine guns trying to shoot them down. Ukraine said that most of the drones were shot down or disabled by electronic jamming, but that debris from destroyed drones damaged houses and sparked fires in parts of the capital.

On Saturday evening, President Trump ramped up pressure on Ukraine to sign the deal, which has now been under negotiation for more than 10 days. Several draft agreements have already been rejected by the Ukrainian side, because they did not contain specific U.S. security guarantees that would protect Kyiv against further Russian aggression.

“I think we’re pretty close to a deal, and we better be close to a deal,” Mr. Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday evening, noting that he wanted payback for past American military and financial assistance to the war-torn country. He also said, “We’re asking for rare earth and oil — anything we can get.”

Frustration over the drawn-out negotiations has fueled an escalating dispute between President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Mr. Trump. The American president accused Mr. Zelensky of being a “dictator without elections,” echoing a Kremlin talking point. The Ukrainian leader also said that Mr. Trump was living in a “web of disinformation.”

Mr. Zelensky was scheduled to hold a news conference on Sunday, a day before the war’s third anniversary, where he is expected to address his escalating feud with Mr. Trump.

On Friday, the United States proposed a new draft agreement, obtained by The New York Times, which still lacked security guarantees for Ukraine and included even tougher financial terms. The two Ukrainian officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, said Ukraine sent back amendments on Saturday night.

The new draft agreement reiterated a U.S. demand that Ukraine relinquish half of its revenues from natural resource extraction, including minerals, gas and oil, as well as earnings from ports and other infrastructure.

Under the proposed deal, those revenues would be directed to a fund in which the United States would hold 100 percent financial interest, and Ukraine should contribute to the fund until it reaches $500 billion. That sum is more than four times as much as the value of U.S. aid committed to Ukraine so far.

The agreement does not commit the United States to security guarantees for Ukraine, or promise further military support for Kyiv. The word “security” was even deleted from a formulation contained in a previous version of the deal, dated Feb. 14 and reviewed by The Times, which stated that both countries aimed to achieve “lasting peace and security in Ukraine.”

Instead, the agreement says that a portion of the revenues collected by the fund will be reinvested into Ukraine’s reconstruction. It also states that the United States intends to provide long-term financial support for Ukraine’s economic development. This potential commitment aligns with an argument in the White House that the mere presence of American economic interests in Ukraine will deter future Russian aggression.

“This economic partnership would lay the foundations for a durable peace by sending a clear signal to the American people, the people of Ukraine, and the government of Russia about the importance of Ukraine’s future sovereignty and success to the U.S.,” Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, wrote in a Saturday opinion piece for The Financial Times.