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Editor's note: The article was updated after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Scott Bessent's visit to Ukraine.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will visit Ukraine this week to discuss a potential deal between Kyiv and Washington on critical minerals, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 11, citing undisclosed sources.
Later in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that Bessent would arrive in Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"I am sending Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to Ukraine to meet President Zelensky," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"This war must and will end soon — too much death and destruction. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars globally with little to show. When America is strong, the world is at peace."
Trump previously suggested that new aid shipments could depend on trade deals the U.S. negotiates with Ukraine. On Feb. 3, Trump said he wanted to provide Ukraine with weapons and aid in exchange for "rare earths and other things."
Zelensky has said he is open to an arrangement that would grant U.S. companies access to Ukraine's rare earth mineral reserves in exchange for continued support from Washington.
Bessent will be the first representative of the new U.S. administration after Trump's return to the White House.
Zelensky earlier announced that some high-profile people from Trump's team would visit Ukraine this week before the Munich Security Conference, which starts on Feb. 14.
The Presidential Office also said previously that Ukraine is preparing to host Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, in February.
According to sources in Ukraine's President's Office, cited by RBC-Ukraine, Kellogg will visit Ukraine on Feb. 20 after the Munich Security Conference.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
