File photo:CCTV

Ukraine said on Thursday that Kiev and Washington had signed a memorandum as an initial step towards clinching an agreement on developing mineral resources in Ukraine, and the US President Donald Trump said the accord could be signed next week, Reuters reported on Friday.

Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's first deputy prime minister and economy minister, wrote on social media that the memorandum had been signed, according to Reuters.

"We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine," she wrote.

Svyrydenko said the full agreement would "open up opportunities for significant investments, modernization of infrastructure, and mutually beneficial partnership between Ukraine and the US," the Financial Times (FT) reported.

The Ukrainian government on Friday published the text of the signed memorandum, which says that the future deal lays the foundation for establishing a joint reconstruction investment fund as part of an economic partnership between the two governments, according to Kyiv Independent.

The text emphasizes the US' respect for Ukraine's EU integration efforts and obligations to international financial institutions, noting that the minerals deal will not conflict with Kiev's European path. 

The memorandum also acknowledges Ukraine's past contribution to global security by voluntarily surrendering the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal. The document made no mention of potential US security guarantees for Ukraine, the report said.

According to the document, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will travel to Washington on April 21 to meet with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and facilitate the final phase of negotiations on the terms of an agreement establishing a reconstruction investment fund, as reported by Kyiv Independent.

Later on Thursday, during a meeting with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office, Trump said his administration was planning to sign the full agreement on natural resources and energy assets next Thursday, the FT said.

Trump said he wants the deal, designed to give the US royalty payments on profits from Ukrainian mining of resources and rare minerals, as compensation for aid given to Ukraine by his predecessor, Joe Biden, the Al Jazeera reported.

Svyrydenko did not publish details of the memorandum, but said work continued toward securing a final agreement, according to the Al Jazeera.

Previous reports indicated that an "investment fund" would be set up for Ukraine's reconstruction and would be managed by Kiev and Washington on "equal terms," BBC said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had been hoping to use the deal to secure a US security guarantee in his country in the event of a ceasefire deal with Russia, according to BBC.

However, the plan was derailed in February by Zelensky and Trump's heated clash at the White House.

CNN reported that European and Ukrainian officials met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff in Paris on Thursday, and Ukrainian and US officials had an "excellent exchange" with their British, French and German counterparts, citing a source at France's Elysée Palace.