The U.S. and Ukraine have signed a memorandum of understanding on a minerals deal that is yet to be finalized, Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said on April 17.

U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators have made “significant progress” in talks on a minerals deal, which will be concluded in the “near future,” Svyrydenko said a day earlier on April 16. Delegations from the two sides met in Washington on April 11 and 12 to work out details of the long-debated deal.

“Today, we took a step towards a joint Economic Partnership Agreement with the United States. Ukraine and the United States of America signed a memorandum, which demonstrates the constructive joint efforts of our teams and the intention to finalize and conclude an agreement that will be beneficial to both our peoples,” Svyrydenko said.

Svyrydenko noted that work needs to be done to finalize the text of the minerals agreement, followed by the signing of the agreement, adding that, afterwards, the agreement needs to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries.

“We are preparing the creation of the Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund. The corresponding agreement will open up opportunities for significant investments, infrastructure modernization, and a mutually beneficial partnership between Ukraine and the United States — this is precisely the goal for which the teams are working on the document,” Svyrydenko said.

The agreement has been in the works for several months and has been a point of contention between Ukraine and the U.S. President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump got into a heated argument in the White House on Feb. 28 when the deal was set to be signed by the two leaders.

“It is important that we reaffirm through our agreements the desire of the American people to invest together with the Ukrainian people in a free, sovereign, and secure Ukraine,” Svyrydenko said.

Trump told reporters on April 17 that Ukraine and the U.S. could sign a minerals deal on April 24.

“We have a minerals deal, which I guess is going to be signed on Thursday, next Thursday,” Trump said during a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the White House.

Trump wants to use the deal as a signal that the U.S. stands with Ukraine as an economic partner, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview released on April 4, adding that it would incentivize Russia to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine.

“The sequencing has been thrown off, but I think we can fix it,” Bessent said, referring to the steps the U.S. plans to take in establishing a peace plan.