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Fox News reports that the US Treasury chief has said that Ukraine could sign an economic agreement next week.

U.S. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent stated on Wednesday that Ukraine could sign an economic agreement next week. President Donald Trump would not hesitate to increase sanctions against Russia if necessary.

Bessent's comments were made in an interview with Martha MacCallum on Fox News after he had been asked to give an update about the talks regarding a mineral agreement.

Bessent stated that "we have sent along a document completed for the economic partnerships (that is) currently being reviewed by Ukrainians. We hope to move to full discussions next week and maybe even get signatures."

Trump said Monday that he expected a U.S.Ukraine revenue sharing agreement to be signed shortly on Ukrainian critical minerals.

On Wednesday, Ukraine and Russia both accused each other of violating a ceasefire on energy strikes that was mediated by the United States.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, has called for Washington to impose further sanctions against Moscow. He said that Moscow was not "pursuing real peace."

Bessent stated that the Russian sanctions would be determined by the next steps of the Russian leadership. President Trump will not hesitate, he said, to increase the sanctions if they give him an advantage in negotiations.

On Tuesday, the United States and Russia announced separate agreements to stop their attacks in the Black Sea against each other and on energy targets.

Trump claims he wants to end the war in Ukraine. The conflict began more than three year ago when Russia invaded its neighbor. Russia annexed Crimea back in 2014.

(source: Reuters)