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"I hear that. I hear that he's coming on Friday," Trump said about Zelenskyy. Alamy Stock Photo
Ukraine
Zelenskyy hoping to visit Trump at White House on Friday to sign earth minerals deal
It emerged last night that both countries had agreed on a deal that will see the US jointly develop Ukraine’s mineral wealth.
7.33am, 26 Feb 2025
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LAST UPDATE|26 Feb
US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has said that his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy will travel to Washington on Friday to sign a deal on minerals that Ukraine hopes will lead to future security guarantees from Washington.
Zelenskyy, who has come under mounting pressure from US officials to sign the accord, told reporters that Ukrainian and US officials were working to confirm a meeting with Trump in Washington on Friday.
As part of a dramatic shift of policy that includes reaching out to Russia, Trump has demanded that Ukraine give access to its rare earth minerals to compensate for billions of dollars of wartime aid it received under Joe Biden.
Last night, it emerged that both countries had agreed on a deal that will see the US jointly develop Ukraine’s mineral wealth, with revenues going to a newly created fund that would be “joint for Ukraine and America”, a senior Ukrainian source told AFP on the condition of anonymity late last night.
Zelenskyy had rejected an earlier draft of the deal from Trump which proposed that the US would receive $500 billion worth of valuable minerals used in aerospace, electric vehicles and other technologies – a sum far above the official figure of $60 billion in US military aid to Ukraine since the invasion.
There is no reference to $500 billion in the new deal, a Ukrainian source said, adding: “They removed all the clauses that did not suit us.”
The source also said the draft of the deal included a reference to “security”, but did not explicitly set out the US’s commitments – one of Kyiv’s prior demands for an agreement.
“There is a general clause that says America will invest in a stable and prosperous sovereign Ukraine, that it works for a lasting peace, and that America supports efforts to guarantee security. Now government officials are working on the details.”
Speaking from the Oval Office last night, Trump told reporters that Zelenskyy is set to travel to Washington to sign the deal on Friday.
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“I hear that. I hear that he’s coming on Friday. Certainly it’s ok with me if he’d like to, and he would like to sign it together with me, and I understand that. It’s a big deal. A very big deal,” he said.
Donald Trump speaking to reporters in the Oval Office yesterday. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Of the emerging agreement, Trump said: “It could be a trillion-dollar deal. It could be whatever.”
Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv that difficult work lay ahead.
“This is a start, this is a framework agreement,” he told journalists at the presidential office in Ukraine today.
Shift by US
He did not answer directly when asked what Ukraine would get in return and instead pointed to past US weapons deliveries.
“Biden was throwing money around like it’s cotton candy,” he said. “We want to get that money back.”
Ukraine hopes the minerals deal will improve relations with the Trump administration, which have quickly soured.
Trump has upended US foreign policy since taking office last month, opening dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin while making threats against Washington’s traditional allies.
On Monday, the US sided with Russia at the United Nations rather than its European allies, pushing a resolution that called for the war to end without condemning Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour three years ago or insisting on Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Last week, Trump branded his Ukrainian counterpart a “dictator” and called for him to “move fast” to end the war, a day after Russian and US officials held talks in Saudi Arabia without Kyiv.
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Zelenskyy had earlier said that Trump was living in a Russian “disinformation space”.
Speaking at the White House, Macron warned Trump that peace cannot mean the “surrender” of Ukraine and called for US support to any potential European troop deployment aimed at preserving a peace deal.
Trump’s pivot on Russia has sparked fears not only that it could spell the end of US support for Kyiv, but for the rest of Europe too.
Macron also spoke by telephone with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday. Downing Street said that the pair praised Trump for “working towards a durable peace in Ukraine”.
Starmer, who is due to visit the White House on Thursday, has insisted a US “backstop” is vital to deter Russia from “launching another invasion in just a few years’ time”.
Want to know more about what’s happening in Ukraine and why? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online.
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