President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to sign a long-sought minerals deal that will closely tie the two countries together for years to come.

A White House official on Wednesday raised doubts about whether an invitation to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to meet U.S. President Donald Trump would make sense given Zelenskiy's comments that a minerals deal is not complete.

The U.S. and Ukraine are near a deal to hand valuable mineral rights to the U.S., an agreement the Trump administration has sought as compensation for military aid to fight off Russia’s invasion, people familiar with the matter said.