Mr. Trump has long demanded that NATO and other allies contribute more to their own defense. But the minerals agreement would represent a major escalation in his transactional approach to foreign policy. The United States was once seen as the world’s policeman, but to many analysts it now seems more like an extortionate Mafia kingpin.

Without confirming an agreement had been reached, the US president said in return for the deal Ukraine would get "the right to fight on".

President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington, DC in the coming days, after the United States and Ukraine agreed to terms on a deal over natural resources and reconstruction, according to a Ukrainian official.