Ukraine set to sign minerals deal, Trump confirms Zelenskiy visit

 

 

Ukraine said on Wednesday it was set to approve a framework minerals deal with the United States but that its success would depend on talks with President Donald Trump. The deal, under which Kyiv would hand some revenue from its mineral resources to a fund jointly controlled by the U.S., is central to Ukrainian attempts to win strong support from Trump as he seeks a quick end to Russia's war, with U.S.-Russian talks that have so far excluded Kyiv set to continue on Thursday. Trump confirmed Zelenskiy would visit Washington on Friday although there was no sign that Kyiv had won the security guarantees it has been seeking as part of the deal, cast by Trump as a payment for U.S. aid to Kyiv during the war.

 

"This agreement could be part of future security guarantees... an agreement is an agreement, but we need to understand the broader vision," Zelenskiy said in Kyiv. He said the most important thing was the current draft did not cast Ukraine as a debtor that would have to pay back hundreds of billions of dollars for past military assistance. "This deal could be a great success or it could pass quietly. And the big success depends on our conversation with President Trump." He said it would be a success if the U.S. becomes a provider of security guarantees for Ukraine, which wants protection from future Russian attacks if a peace deal is reached.

 

Trump said on Tuesday that Zelenskiy wanted to come to Washington on Friday to sign a "very big deal". Zelenskiy said both sides were still working on organising the visit and a White House official on Wednesday raised doubts about whether the visit would go ahead, but Trump later said again that Zelenskiy would visit on Friday.

 

Trump has been fiercely critical of Zelenskiy as he upended U.S. policy on the war, calling him a "dictator" and ending a campaign to isolate Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022. Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 12 and a Russian-U.S. meeting took place in Saudi Arabia on February 18. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russian and U.S. diplomats would meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss resolving bilateral disputes that are part of a wider dialogue the sides see as crucial to ending the Ukraine war.