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Ukraine, US may sign minerals memorandum today — Zelensky

The signing of the minerals deal was upended on February 28 after a shouting match between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump at the White House

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Kiev and Washington may sign a memorandum of intent within the framework of the agreement on minerals during an online meeting today, Vladimir Zelensky said at a media briefing.

"Our team is now working with the American team remotely on a minerals memorandum. Right now, I mean, right at this very moment. The memorandum of agreements, that is, not the agreement itself, but the memorandum of intent could be signed online today," he said.

The signing of the minerals deal was upended on February 28 after a shouting match between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump at the White House. On March 27, Kiev said it had received a new version of the document from Washington, which turned out to be much tougher than the previous one. The new deal obliges Kiev to compensate the US for over $120 billion in aid received. The United States will gain control over the investment fund being created for the reconstruction of Ukraine, which will receive contributions from Kiev's income from royalties and rents from mining. After that, Ukraine repeatedly said that it is still working out its position on the agreement, and Zelensky complained about the change in conditions by Washington.

Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Economics Minister Yulia Sviridenko recently said that Kiev and Washington have made progress towards inking a deal, with a memorandum of intent being a step in the right direction.

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