Washington reportedly still views a resource deal with Kiev as a way to recover funds spent on supporting the country

The US continues to insist that Ukraine should pay it tens of billions of dollars as part of a resource deal in compensation for American assistance in the conflict with Russia, but has scaled back its initial assessment of the final amount, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

Washington and Kiev have for weeks been discussing a resource deal - a concept first floated by Vladimir Zelensky last year - which would grant the US access to Ukraine's deposits of rare earths.

Following a round of talks in Washington last week, officials from the administration of US President Donald Trump cut their estimate of American assistance to Kiev from more than $300 billion to about $100 billion, Bloomberg sources said. Ukraine itself assesses total aid US during the conflict with Russia at just over $90 billion.

However, US officials still view the resource deal "as an opportunity to recoup costs in Ukraine through profits" received from a joint fund, the size of which is still unknown, a Bloomberg source claimed. Ukraine has consistently rejected the idea that US aid constitutes a debt, insisting that assistance was provided unconditionally.

Kiev is also pushing for future US investment in the joint fund, although Trump's team has been reluctant to entertain the idea while insisting that previous American military support should be counted as Washington's contribution, the article said.

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Asked to comment on the state of the negotiations, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg that the sides "are very, very close" to finding a consensus, and that the agreement "could even be signed as early as this week."

The two sides were close to signing a deal in late February, with the ceremony widely expected to take place during Zelensky's visit to the Oval Office. However, the event devolved into a public spat, with Trump accusing Zelensky of disrespect, ingratitude for past US aid, reluctance to seek peace with Russia, and "gambling with World War III."

(RT.com)