U.S. & Ukraine To Sign Minerals Deal After Zelensky Called It A Deal ‘To Sell’ His Country

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday to sign an agreement to give the U.S. access to its deposits of rare earth minerals. The deal’s final terms are unknown, and it is unclear if Kyiv will receive any security guarantees in return. Zelensky repeatedly pressed for guarantees for his country in exchange for mineral rights, as Russia’s war entered its fourth year.

Last week, Zelensky angered Trump when he said the president “lives in a disinformation space.”

Previous draft agreements did not include such security commitments. Trump had insisted he wanted “payback” for past military aid to Kyiv and said a deal would help American taxpayers “get their money back,” adding that Europe should be responsible for Kyiv’s security.

Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said, referring to Zelensky, “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’s a big deal, very big deal.”

Zelensky told CNN that he sees the deal as a “framework,” and he hopes that the natural resources deal can secure Trump’s future support. The Trump administration has resisted making any explicit commitments.

During a Monday press conference in Kyiv, Zelensky conceded that the deal does not have “concrete steps on security guarantees” because these need to be decided jointly with the U.S. and Europe.

The draft deal details that Ukraine will contribute 50 percent of all revenues earned from the future monetization of state-owned natural resources assets to a fund. The fund will aim to “attract investments to increase the development, processing, and monetization of all public and private Ukrainian assets,” including its oil and gas and rare earth sectors.

The U.S. initially demanded a $500 billion share of Ukraine’s rare earths and other minerals to repay the aid it has already provided to Kyiv. But Zelensky rejected that idea, saying that agreeing to it would “sell” his country. 

Trump repeated that Ukraine would, in return, receive $350 billion, which has already been approved by the U.S. “and lots of equipment, military equipment and the right to fight on.” According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the actual value of aid given to Kyiv is around $120 billion.

“I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much,” Trump said. “We’re going to have Europe do that.”

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Article by Angie Schlager