Image source, Reuters

News that Ukraine is ready to sign the long-anticipated minerals deal with the US comes just days after the leaders of the two countries met at the funeral of Pope Francis.

After their face-to-face talk at St Peter's Basilica on Saturday, Trump wrote on social media he feared Vladimir Putin was "tapping me along" after Moscow's strikes on Kyiv last week, adding there was "no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas".

The White House described the 15-minute meeting with Zelensky as "very productive", while the Ukrainian president said it had the "potential to become historic".

We've just taken a closer look at the draft minerals deal between the US and Ukraine, which is just shy of 3,500 words long.

The document is dense with a lot of information packed in, so it will take us some time to get to grips with the full contents of the deal.

The objectives of the agreement are outlined early on in the document:

• Further economic cooperation between the US and Ukraine
• Strengthen the partnership to help the reconstruction of Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion
• Acknowledge Ukraine's need for not only financial investment, but also structural, institutional and technological transformation
• Express a broader, and strategic, alignment between peoples and governments, with a tangible demonstration of US support for Ukraine's security and integration into global economic frameworks
• Serve as a flagship mechanism for encouraging transparent, accountable, and future-oriented investment into critical sectors of Ukraine’s economy

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Good morning from the White House, where there is so far no sign of any impending minerals deal between the US and Ukraine – although that could change quickly.

So far, US officials from both the White House and Treasury have not answered my repeated inquiries about the deal.

And just moments ago, one of President Trump’s chief trade advisors, Peter Navarro, gave no indication that the deal would be signed soon.

His focus, and that of the media, was largely on GDP figures which show that the US economy shrank in the first quarter of the year.

Trump’s cabinet meeting will take place soon, and the press “pool” – the small number of reporters who will be in the room – are likely to ask about that.

Any announcement of the deal would be seen as a considerable victory for the administration, which just this week celebrated its 100th day in office to much fanfare.

Image source, Getty Images

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has confirmed that Economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko is on her way to the US, adding that he hopes the minerals deal will be signed in the next "24 hours".

"We are working on the final details with our American colleagues," he tells national TV. "After that, there will be signing of two more technical agreements, about creation of the fund, its financing and filling."

We're reading through the deal so stick with us and we'll bring you the main points from it shortly.

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

US officials aren’t answering my calls to confirm whether or not the minerals deal is about to be signed in Washington, as the Ukrainians are saying.

That might be telling in itself, suggesting they're still sorting out details. We’ll probably get a clearer steer in the next hour as Trump holds his cabinet meeting at 11:00 EST (16:00 BST), where the press pool will probably lob some questions at him about it.

It’s likely Trump wanted to be able to announce a full ceasefire deal by now - some 100 days into his presidency, but that was never about to happen.

Instead, the administration has been ratcheting up the pressure to get more progress out of Russia and Ukraine, amid increasing signs of Trump's frustration that he can't move forward in a process far more testing than he anticipated.

Last night Trump’s top diplomat Marco Rubio used his strongest language yet on the threat to walk away from the talks if there isn’t imminent progress.

He said it was now time for parties to deliver or the US mediation role would end.

As we wait to bring you more details about the deal, it's worth mentioning that Ukraine and the US were originally expected to sign the agreement back in February - but a public argument in the Oval Office ultimately caused a delay.

Zelensky had travelled to Washington to sign the deal which had been trailed and praised by both sides in advance of the meeting. But instead of clinching a deal over its natural resources, the Ukrainian president faced an extraordinary dressing down in front of the world's media.

Donald Trump demanded that he show more gratitude for years of US support, telling him: "You don't have the cards right now...You're gambling with millions of lives."

And Vice-President JD Vance said: "Just say thank you." The Ukrainian president was eventually told to leave the White House early.

You can watch the video of that meeting here:

The BBC has seen a copy of the draft minerals deal between the US and Ukraine.

We'll bring you the key details from it shortly.

Ukraine hopes the deal will improve relations with the USpublished at 15:02 British Summer Time 30 April

15:02 BST 30 April

Jon Donnison
Reporting from Kyiv

Government sources have told the BBC Ukraine’s economy minister is currently en route to Washington DC and that she is ready to sign the deal.

An official said it was now up the White House to determine whether it goes ahead but said it could happen as soon as today.

Full details of the agreement have not been revealed but previous leaks suggest it may include US access to Ukraine's energy infrastructure, oil and gas, as well as precious minerals.

An investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine would then be set up as part of an economic partnership.

Ukraine hopes the deal will improve relations with the US which is leading efforts to reach a peace deal in Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world's "critical raw materials" are in Ukraine.

This includes some 19 million tonnes of proven reserves of graphite, which the Ukrainian Geological Survey state agency says makes the nation "one of the top five leading countries" for the supply of the mineral. Graphite is used to make batteries for electric vehicles.

Ukraine also has significant deposits of titanium and lithium. It says it has substantial amounts of the world's rare earth metals - a group of 17 elements that are used to produce weapons, wind turbines, electronics and other products vital in the modern world - but these claims are disputed.

Also, some of the country's mineral deposits have been seized by Russia. According to Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, resources worth $350bn (£277bn) remain in occupied territories today.

Image source, Getty Images

A senior Ukrainian official tells the BBC that "Ukraine is ready to sign" a minerals deal with the US "today" and timings now depend on "how ready the American side is".

The US and Ukraine have been negotiating for several months over the deal which would involve an economic partnership between the two countries to develop Ukraine's natural resources.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, is on the way to Washington to sign the deal.

President Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky had been planning to sign an earlier version of the deal in February but it was cancelled after the public argument in the Oval Office between the two leaders.