Ukraine said on Thursday that Kiev and Washington have signed a memorandum as a first step towards an agreement on the development of Ukraine’s mineral resources, a deal promoted by US President Donald Trump.

Trump said the deal could be signed next week.

Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyirydenko wrote on social media that the memorandum had been signed.

“We are pleased to announce the signing of a memorandum of intent with our American partners that will pave the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine,” she wrote.

A Ukrainian delegation traveled to Washington late last week for talks after the Trump administration proposed a new, more comprehensive agreement. The initial framework agreement that was agreed upon has never been signed.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said: “We have a minerals agreement, I think it’s going to be signed on Thursday.”

Trump has been pushing for a deal that would allow the United States to gain privileged access to Ukraine’s natural resources and critical minerals in what he presents as payback for military aid Washington provided to Ukraine under former President Joe Biden.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who sat with Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday, said “we’re still working out the details” and that the signing could happen as soon as next Friday.

“It’s substantially more than what we agreed to earlier,” he said. “When the president was here, we had a memorandum of understanding. We went straight to a big deal, and I think it’s an 80-page agreement, and we’re going to sign it.”

The White House did not respond to a request for further details on the timing and content of the agreement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously said that the two countries could sign the memorandum online later.

“This is a memorandum of intent. We have positive, productive intentions,” Zelensky told reporters in Kiev.

He said the proposal to sign the memorandum came from the US side before the broader deal, which would require approval by the Ukrainian parliament.

Zvyridenko had previously said that Kiev and Washington had made significant progress in negotiating the agreement, and that this was the first phase of the memorandum of understanding.