Changes the climate between Washington and Moscow after the improved American mineral proposal? US envoy to the War in Ukraine, Keith Kogg, said Friday that he had “extensive and positive” discussions on Thursday with President Volodimir Zelenski.

Kloger reports to X that he also had talks with Zelenski’s “talented national security team” during his visit to the Ukrainian capital.

The Trump government has given Ukraine an “improved” plan for mineral agreement, after President Zelenski rejected the original, causing the anger of US President Trump, according to the Axios news network citing an Ukrainian official.

According to the same report, many Zelenski advisers encouraged him to sign the updated proposal to avoid further conflict with Trump and allow the US president to justify US support in Ukraine.

‘There was a significant improvement In a recent plan and is in line with Ukrainian law, “the source said.

National Security Adviser Mike Valts told reporters on Thursday that Zelenski should “return to the negotiating table” on the issue of minerals.

“This is a negotiation. And in a negotiation, you negotiate. Ukraine wants to negotiate for minerals, so we are discussing it, “a White House official said.

Ukraine has significant reserves of rare earths, critical for the most advanced technologies. Overall, the value of minerals could amount to trillions of dollars.

The mineral agreement is not expressly linked to any settlement to end the war in Ukraine, but the two issues were linked this week in a dramatic way.

The idea of ​​an economic cooperation between Ukraine and the US was initially set up last September by Zelenski during a meeting with Trump in New York.

Last week, three hours before the meeting of Finance Minister Scott Bessed, with Zelenski in Kiev, the US Ambassador handed over a draft agreement to cooperate with mineral extraction.

The original plan predicted that 50% of revenue would go to the US, That the agreement would be subject to the jurisdiction of the New York Court and that it would prevail with any other Ukraine trade agreement, according to two sources that were aware of the text.

At their meeting, Besed conveyed to Zelenski that Trump insisted on signing it immediately. Zelenski replied that he could not sign an agreement he had just received.

The Ukrainians expressed their frustration that the American plan did not include security guarantees for Ukraine and that it was imposed at a time when Ukraine was excluded from US-Russia talks for its future.

But they were also taken aback when Trump began publicly attacking Zelenski, including the issue of minerals.

“Scott Bessed went there and was rather rude, because he was actually told ‘no,'” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “He returned with empty hands. They did not sign the document. “

A few days later, when Zelenski met with Vice President Vans and Foreign Minister Marko Rubio in Munich, he was presented with a less binding memorandum of mineral extraction, a Ukrainian official said.

Zelenski told Vance and Rubio that he could not sign, as such an agreement must be approved by parliament, according to the Ukrainian Constitution.

“This was something they had never told us before that meeting,” an US official said. “It didn’t seem to be good.”

Zelenski’s stance on the mineral agreement was one of the issues that enraged Trump and other high-ranking US officials, exacerbating existing tensions due to the US-Russian meeting in Saudi Arabia, according to US and Ukraine officials.

Trump said Wednesday night that he was trying to “revive” the mineral agreement.

Zelenski met on Thursday in Kiev with American envoy Keith Kloge and discussed the fossil agreement, the situation on the battlefield, the return of prisoners of war and security guarantees.

After the meeting, Zelenski issued a statement thanking the US for their help and inter -party support.