Trump hosts Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to sign minerals deal

WASHINGTON – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the White House Friday for a high-stakes meeting with President Donald Trump,  as he tries to persuade the White House to provide some form of U.S. backing for Ukraine’s security against any future Russian aggression.

Trump greeted Zelenskyy with a handshake. The leaders looked toward journalists and Trump pumped his fist. They did not respond to the shouted questions. Trump and Zelenskyy are scheduled to meet in the Oval Office followed by a lunch meeting and a news conference.

Zelenskyy’s delegation is expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the U.S. aimed at financing the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine, a deal that would closely tie the two countries together for years to come. The deal comes just a few days after the three-year anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine.

Deal reached

Big picture view:

The deal, which was announced by Trump on Wednesday during his first Cabinet meeting, would allow the U.S. access to Ukraine’s deposits of rare earth minerals, many of which can be used in aerospace defense and nuclear industries. 

This deal is a chance for Kyiv to pay back the U.S. for aid already sent for the war effort during former President Joe Biden’s term, according to Trump.  

What they’re saying:

“The previous administration put us in a very bad position, but we’ve been able to make a deal where we’re going to get the money back and a lot of money in the future,” Trump said.

What’s next:

The framework is a preliminary step toward a comprehensive package that will be subject to ratification by the Ukrainian parliament, Zelenskyy said.

What does the agreement say? 

Dig deeper:

According to the preliminary economic agreement, seen by The Associated Press, the U.S. and Ukraine will establish a co-owned, jointly managed investment fund to which Ukraine will contribute 50% of future revenues from natural resources, including minerals, hydrocarbons and other extractable materials.

A more detailed agreement on establishing the fund will be drawn up once the preliminary one is signed.

But Zelenskyy has remained firm that specific assurances of Ukraine’s security must accompany any agreement giving U.S. access to Ukraine’s resources. On Wednesday, he said the agreement “may be part of future security guarantees, but I want to understand the broader vision. What awaits Ukraine?”

Trump remained noncommittal about any American security guarantees.

“I’m not going to make security guarantees … very much,” Trump told reporters this week. “We’re going to have Europe do that.”

If a truce can be reached, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to send troops for a potential peacekeeping mission to Ukraine to ensure that fighting between Ukraine and Russia doesn’t flare up again. Both leaders traveled to Washington this week before the Zelenskyy visit to discuss with Trump the potential peacekeeping mission and other concerns about the war.

Russia and US meeting

What we know:

Russian and U.S. diplomats met on Thursday in Istanbul to discuss normalizing the operation of their respective embassies after years of expelling each other’s diplomats.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks followed an understanding reached during President Donald Trump’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and contact between senior Russian and U.S. diplomats and other officials in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking during Thursday’s meeting of the Federal Security Service, Putin hailed the Trump administration’s “pragmatism and realistic view” compared with what he described as the “stereotypes and messianic ideological cliches” of its predecessors.

“The first contacts with the new U.S. administration encourage certain hopes,” Putin said. “There is a mutual readiness to work to restore relations and gradually solve a colossal amount of systemic strategic problems in the global architecture.”

Putin said that “part of Western elites are still determined to maintain global instability” and could try to “disrupt or compromise the dialogue that has begun,” adding that Russian diplomats and security agencies should focus their efforts on thwarting such attempts.

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