The U.S. and Ukraine on Wednesday signed off on a deal that will give Washington access to Ukraine's vast critical minerals and natural resources, finalizing an agreement weeks in the making to compensate the U.

After a dramatic Oval Office showdown between President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in late February that almost jeopardised US-Ukraine diplomatic relations, the two sides on Wednesday finally inked an "economic partnership agreement" in Washington, DC.

The United States and Ukraine on Wednesday signed a minerals deal after a two-month delay, in what President Donald Trump's administration called a new form of US commitment to Kyiv after the end of military aid.