The legal framework was nearly complete, and both countries would soon see economic returns
On the 1,149th day of a war that has reshaped the architecture of European security, Ukraine and the United States moved closer to a minerals agreement that would trade access to critical resources for continued military support — a transactional arrangement that reflects how the calculus of alliance has shifted in the Trump era. Even as diplomats worked toward a framework, Russian drones and missiles continued their methodical toll on civilian life in Dnipro, Kherson, and Kharkiv, reminding the world that negotiations and bombardment are not opposites but simultaneous realities. The war has long since ceased to be only a military contest; it is now also a negotiation over sovereignty, dignity, and the price of survival.
- Ukraine and the US are closing in on a minerals deal that would give Washington a share of critical resources in exchange for future military support — with the significant concession that prior aid will no longer be treated as a debt Kyiv must repay.
- Russian Shahed drones killed two women and wounded 16 in Dnipro, while separate strikes in Kherson and Kharkiv added to the civilian toll — including a deliberate double-tap strike timed to hit rescue workers responding to the first explosion.
- Ukraine's security services detained nine suspected saboteurs, five of them teenagers aged 14 and 15, allegedly recruited by Russian intelligence to plant explosives near homes and railways — echoing a March case in which Russia reportedly killed the young recruits it had used.
- Putin's self-declared 30-day moratorium on strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure was nearing expiration with no word from Moscow on whether it would continue, even as Ukraine accused Russia of violating it repeatedly throughout.
- Latvia's parliament voted to withdraw from the international ban on anti-personnel mines, and France's Macron prepared to meet US officials to discuss peace efforts — two signals that Europe is simultaneously hardening its defenses and searching for an exit from the conflict.
On the 1,149th day of the war, Zelenskyy announced that a minerals agreement with the United States had cleared a critical hurdle. The legal framework was nearly complete, he said, and both countries could soon see economic returns. Behind the scenes, American negotiators had already made a meaningful concession: the latest drafts no longer treated previous US military aid as a debt Ukraine owed — a significant retreat from Washington's earlier position that Kyiv repay assistance delivered since the 2022 invasion. The shift suggested talks were moving, by one account, "quite fast."
The agreement represents a fundamental reshaping of the US-Ukraine relationship. The Trump administration wants a large share of Ukraine's critical minerals and rare earth elements in exchange for continued support. Zelenskyy has refused to treat past aid as a loan but signaled willingness to pay for future assistance upfront — a distinction that preserves Ukraine's dignity while acknowledging the new transactional reality of its defense.
But survival remained the immediate concern. Russian Shahed drones struck Dnipro in a mass attack that killed two women and wounded at least 16 others. In Kharkiv's Izium, a missile injured two people. In Kherson, a double-tap strike — where a second blow lands as rescuers respond to the first — killed one person and wounded three more.
Ukraine's Security Service also detained nine people, including five teenagers aged 14 and 15, suspected of planning sabotage attacks on behalf of Russian intelligence. Agents seized more than 30 kilograms of explosives. The case echoed a March incident in which Russia allegedly recruited two teenage boys to plant bombs near a railway station — and then killed them to erase the evidence.
Meanwhile, Putin's declared 30-day moratorium on strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure was nearing its end with no clarity from Moscow on whether it would continue. Ukraine had accused Russia of violating it throughout.
In Russia, the war's costs surfaced in unexpected ways: the former governor of the Kursk region and his deputy were arrested on suspicion of embezzling over $12 million meant for border defenses — funds that were supposed to prevent exactly the kind of Ukrainian cross-border assault that occurred in August 2024.
Diplomatically, France's Macron was set to meet US Secretary of State Rubio and Trump's Russia envoy Witkoff to discuss ending the war. And Latvia's parliament voted to withdraw from the international ban on anti-personnel mines, citing its own security fears — a quiet but telling sign of how deeply the invasion has reordered European calculations about defense and survival.
On day 1,149 of the war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that negotiations over a minerals agreement with the United States had cleared a critical hurdle. The legal framework was nearly complete, he said in his daily address on Wednesday, and if the pace held steady, both countries would soon see economic returns from the deal. Behind the scenes, American negotiators had already moved. A senior official involved in the talks told Agence France-Presse that the latest drafts no longer treated previous U.S. military aid as a debt Ukraine owed—a significant concession from Washington's earlier position. The Trump administration had been demanding that Kyiv repay assistance already delivered since the 2022 invasion. Now, according to reporting from Bloomberg News, that demand had been dropped. The shift suggested momentum in talks that were moving, by one account, "quite fast."
The minerals agreement itself represents a fundamental reshaping of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship. The Trump administration wants a large share of Ukraine's critical minerals and rare earth elements in exchange for continued military support. Zelenskyy has made clear that Ukraine will not treat past aid as a loan, but he has signaled willingness to pay for future assistance upfront. The distinction matters: it preserves Ukraine's dignity while acknowledging the new reality of transactional defense. If the agreement holds, it could unlock both security and economic development for a country fighting for its survival.
But survival remained the immediate concern. On Wednesday, Russian Shahed drones struck the city of Dnipro in a mass attack that killed two women—one young, one elderly—and wounded at least 16 others. In the Kharkiv region, a Russian missile hit the town of Izium, injuring two people. In Kherson, a southern city that has endured months of bombardment, Russian strikes killed one person and wounded three more in what officials described as a double-tap attack, where a second strike comes as rescue workers arrive at the scene of the first.
The pattern of civilian casualties continued even as diplomatic channels opened. Ukraine's Security Service announced on Wednesday that it had detained nine people, including five teenagers aged 14 and 15, on suspicion of planning sabotage attacks on behalf of Russian security services. The suspects allegedly intended to plant explosives near residential buildings and railway lines, some using improvised devices. Agents seized more than 30 kilograms of explosives from the group. This was not the first such case: in March, the SBU had accused Russia of recruiting two teenage boys to build bombs and plant them near a Ukrainian railway station—and then killing them to cover its tracks.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin offered no clarity on a supposed moratorium it had announced. Putin had declared on March 18 that he was ordering a 30-day halt to strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. That period was nearing its end, but Moscow would not say whether the pause would continue or expire. Ukraine, for its part, had accused Russia of violating the moratorium repeatedly.
In Russia itself, the war's costs were becoming visible in unexpected places. Alexei Smirnov, 51, the former governor of the Kursk region, and his ex-deputy Alexei Dedov, 48, were arrested on suspicion of embezzling over $12 million in funds meant for border defenses. The two had been in charge when Ukrainian troops crossed the border in August 2024 and mounted the largest ground assault on Russian territory since World War II. Putin had replaced Smirnov in December, but the arrest suggested that Moscow was now investigating what happened to resources that were supposed to stop exactly the kind of invasion that occurred.
Diplomatically, the machinery of negotiation was turning. France's president, Emmanuel Macron, was scheduled to meet on Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, Trump's Russia envoy, to discuss ending the war. And in a sign of how the conflict was reshaping European security calculations, Latvia's parliament voted on Wednesday to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines. The Baltic country, facing its own security threats from Russia, said it needed the freedom to use all available defensive tools. The withdrawal would take effect six months after formal notification to the United Nations—a direct consequence of the invasion that began more than three years ago.
Citações Notáveis
The basic legal stuff is almost finalised, and then, if everything moves as quickly and constructively, the agreement will bring economic results to both our countries.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian president
Withdrawal from the Ottawa convention will give our armed forces room for manoeuvre in the event of a military threat to use all possible means to defend our citizens.— Inara Murniece, chair of Latvia's parliamentary foreign affairs committee
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does the minerals deal matter so much right now? It seems like a side issue when people are dying.
It's not a side issue—it's how the war gets paid for going forward. The U.S. has been funding Ukraine's defense, but Trump wants something in return. This deal is the mechanism that keeps the aid flowing without treating it as charity or debt. Without it, the aid stops.
And Zelenskyy got the U.S. to drop the repayment demand for past aid?
That's what the reporting suggests. It's a win for Ukraine's negotiating position. It means the country isn't starting from a hole—it's not inheriting a massive debt for weapons it already used to survive.
But Ukraine is still going to pay going forward?
Yes. Zelenskyy said he expects to pay for future military assistance upfront. It's a shift from the Biden era, when aid was largely free. Now it's transactional.
What about the teenagers being arrested for sabotage? That's a different kind of threat.
It is. Russia is recruiting inside Ukraine—sometimes children—to carry out attacks. The SBU says it's stopped some plots, but the fact that it keeps happening suggests Russia has networks operating inside Ukrainian territory. It's a war being fought in the shadows too.
And the Kursk arrests in Russia—what does that tell us?
That the war has costs everywhere. Those officials were supposed to defend the border. They failed, and now they're being investigated for corruption. It suggests Moscow is looking for someone to blame for the August invasion that caught them off guard.