Washington, March 21 (NationPress) US President Donald Trump stated that he is set to finalize a rare earth minerals agreement with Ukraine "very shortly."

"We are making significant progress with Ukraine and Russia. One of the actions we are taking is to sign a deal in the near future concerning rare earth minerals with Ukraine," the president remarked on Thursday.

Trump's comments came soon after he enacted an executive order to activate emergency powers aimed at "substantially boosting the production of critical minerals and rare earth elements."

"We are also establishing agreements in various regions to unlock rare earths and minerals, along with numerous other resources around the globe, particularly in Ukraine," Trump added.

Last month, he had requested Ukraine to supply the United States with rare earth minerals valued at $500 billion, as reported by Xinhua news agency.

"I informed them (Ukraine) that I wanted an equivalent of approximately $500 billion worth of rare earth minerals. They have essentially agreed to this so that we do not feel foolish," Trump stated during an interview with Fox News at that time.

Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were supposed to sign an agreement at the end of February in Washington that would provide Washington access to Ukraine's mineral resources.

However, the agreement was left unsigned after Zelensky's meeting in the Oval Office with Trump and his deputy JD Vance escalated into a tense discussion.