Under the proposal, Ukraine would grant partial ownership of its mineral reserves instead of making financial repayments to Washington, NBC News reported on Saturday, citing multiple U.S. officials familiar with the discussions.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent presented the proposal to President Volodymyr Zelensky during their meeting Wednesday in Kyiv, officials said.

According to officials, the plan also includes the possible deployment of American troops to safeguard these mineral sites in the Eastern European country, contingent on a diplomatic resolution with Russia. “The Trump administration’s suggestion signaled an openness to deploying American troops there,” one official said.

Following his meeting with the Ukrainian president, Bessent did not provide further details on the draft proposal but said a U.S.-Ukraine rare earth minerals agreement was what President Trump wanted.

According to the U.S. media outlet, Zelensky declined to sign the document, saying he needed to study it and consult his officials on the matter.

The U.S. and Ukraine have officially not commented on the proposal or media speculation. However, Zelensky, while addressing the Munich Security Conference on Friday, said his legal advisers would weigh in on the draft presented to him by the U.S. Treasury Secretary in Kyiv.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly discussed striking a deal with Ukraine that would grant the U.S. significant access to rare earth minerals.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Trump said he wanted the U.S. to receive $500 billion worth of Ukraine’s rare minerals, claiming that Kyiv had “essentially agreed to do so.”

Based on a 2024 World Economic Forum report, Ukraine has massive reserves of earth minerals and holds about 5% of the world’s total mineral resources.