Ukraine-Russia war live: US and Ukraine sign critical minerals deal after Trump softens demands

Russia has attacked Ukraine with five ballistic missiles and 170 drones in an overnight attack targeting several parts of the war-hit nation, Ukraine’s air force said this morning.

The air force said its defence units shot down 74 drones while another 68 drones did not reach their targets likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures.

It is not immediately clear what happened to the missiles or remaining 28 drones.

The deal signed yesterday by Ukraine and the US will give America preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and the ability to profit from investment in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.

Here’s the full statement on the signing of the deal by US treasury chief Scott Bessent:

“Thanks to President Trump’s tireless efforts to secure a lasting peace, I am glad to announce the signing of today’s historic economic partnership agreement between the United States and Ukraine establishing the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.

“As the President has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war. This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term. President Trump envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.

“Both the United States and the Government of Ukraine look forward to quickly operationalising this historic economic partnership for both the Ukrainian and American people.”

Ukraine is often recognised for its vast agricultural lands and industrial heritage, but beneath its surface lies one of the world’s most remarkable geological formations, the “Ukrainian Shield”.

This massive, exposed crystalline rock formed over 2.5 billion years ago, stretches across much of Ukraine. It represents one of Earth’s oldest and most stable continental blocks.

The formation has undergone multiple episodes of mountain building, the formation and movement of magma and other change throughout time.

At least two people were killed and five others were injured as Russian drones attacked Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa early today.

“Two people died and five others were injured as a result of the strike. Medics are providing all necessary assistance to the victims,” regional governor Oleh Kiper reported.

The drones sparked fires and damaged dwellings and infrastructure, the governor said.

“The enemy is attacking Odesa with strike drones. There is considerable damage to civilian infrastructure, particularly dwellings,” he said on his Telegram channel. “Fires have broken out in a number of places.”

Pictures posted online showed heavy damage to the facades of buildings.

The minerals deal signed with the US will allow Ukraine to “determine what and where to extract” and that its subsoil remains owned by Ukraine, Ukrainian first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

Ukraine is rich in natural resources including rare earth metals which are used in consumer electronics, electric vehicles and military applications, among others.

Global rare-earth mining is currently dominated by China, which is locked in a trade war with the US after Donald Trump’s sharp tariff increases.

Ukraine also has large reserves of iron, uranium and natural gas.

Ms Svyrydenko said Ukraine has no debt obligations to the United States under the agreement, a key point in the lengthy negotiations between the two countries.

The deal also, she said, complied with Ukraine’s constitution and Ukraine’s campaign to join the European Union, key elements in Ukraine’s negotiating position.

“Importantly, the Agreement sends a signal to global partners that long-term cooperation with Ukraine – over decades – is not only possible but reliable,” Ms Svyrydenko said on X.

The US and Ukraine signed their much anticipated deal which will allow Washington preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and to profit from investment in Ukraine’s reconstruction.

“I thank everyone who contributed to this Agreement and helped make it stronger. This document is capable of delivering success for both our countries — Ukraine and the United States,” said Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

The two countries signed the accord in Washington yesterday after months of fraught negotiations.

The agreement is central to Kyiv’s efforts to mend ties with the US president and the White House, which frayed after Donald Trump took office in January.

Ukrainian officials have hoped that the deal would ensure continued US support for Ukraine’s defence against Russia.

Mr Trump has repeatedly sought payback from Kyiv for the US’s military and financial aid in the more than three-year-old war.

Before the signing, Mr Trump again said that the US should get something for its aid to Kyiv, thus the effort to secure a deal for Ukraine’s plentiful deposits of rare earth minerals.

In announcing the deal, the US Treasury said the partnership recognised “the significant financial and material support that the people of the United States have provided to the defence of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion.”

The Trump administration and its Republican allies in Congress have been increasingly opposed to the kind of formal military support packages passed repeatedly under the Biden presidency.

How does the deal help Ukraine?

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent claimed in February that reaching such a deal on Ukraine’s rare earth minerals would mean an effective “security shield” for Ukraine.

Under the plan, all money raised for the exploitation of Ukraine’s minerals will go into a fund managed jointly by the US and Ukrainian governments.

American military assistance going forward will count toward that total. Ukraine’s prime minister said that the deal contained no obligations regarding previous US military support.

The final minerals deal would also provide for Ukraine’s continued “full control over subsoil, infrastructure, and natural resources,” prime minister Denys Shmyhal said, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Numerous signs of torture and ill-treatment were found on the journalist’s body returned by Russia, said Yurii Belousov, head of the war crimes department at the Prosecutor General’s Office. The experts, who were a part of the investigation, also saw signs of electric shock torture on Roshchyna.

An independent examination of Roshchyna’s body in Ukraine showed that her brain, eyes, and parts of trachea had been removed, the French newsroom Forbidden Stories investigation said.

Ukraine and the US said on Wednesday they signed an agreement on a joint fund to invest in Ukraine’s reconstruction, and a draft of the deal said it would give Washington preferential access to new Ukrainian natural resources deals.

The two countries signed the accord in Washington after months of sometimes fraught negotiations, with uncertainty persisting until the last-moment with word of an eleventh-hour snag.

“In recognition of the significant financial and material support that the people of the United States have provided to the defence of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion, this economic partnership positions our two countries to … accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery,” the US Treasury Department said.

A draft of the minerals agreement seen by Reuters gave the US preferential access to new Ukrainian natural resources deals but did not automatically hand Washington a share of Ukraine’s mineral wealth or any of its gas infrastructure.

It provided for creation of a joint US-Ukrainian fund for reconstruction which will see the sharing of profits and royalties accruing to the Ukrainian state from new natural resources permits in Ukraine.

While publicly Russian president Vladimir Putin has been talking of his wish for a ceasefire, on the battlefield his forces have significantly increased the intensity of their combat activity in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said yesterday.

“Despite loud statements about readiness to cease fire for the May holidays, the occupiers (Russian forces) have significantly increased the intensity of combat actions, focusing their main efforts on the Pokrovsk direction,” General Syrskyi said on Telegram.

Pokrovsk is one of the hottest sectors on the Ukrainian war frontline and in the past 24 hours, Russian forces have conducted offensive operations and advanced near the region.

On Monday night, Mr Putin declared a three-day ceasefire from 8-10 May to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in the Second World War.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has said such limited truces are meaningless, and urged Putin to agree to an immediate ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.

Previous versions of the deal presented by Donald Trump’s negotiators insisted that Ukraine pay back the aid the US had given it over the last three years of war. The latest version, according to the Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal, no longer makes that demand.

Mr Shmyhal said the reworked agreement has become a “real partnership deal”, which could consider future US aid as part of contributions to a joint investment fund.

Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs, signed the deal which, according to the head of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, will be in two parts.

World Affairs Editor Sam Kiley reports: