Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to a draft of a minerals deal with the White House, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.
Trump told reporters that the Ukrainian leader plans to travel to D.C. on Friday to meet with him after the officials agreed to the terms of the deal, which was first reported by Reuters. The U.S. president added that the two leaders are "just in the process of negotiating."
"We've pretty much negotiated our deal on earth [minerals] and various other things," Trump said. "We'll be looking…. general security for Ukraine later on. I don't think that's going to be a problem. There are a lot of people that want to do it, and I spoke with Russia about it. They didn't seem to have a problem with it. So I think they understand they're not going back. And once we do this, they're not going back."
The pact, which would involve giving the U.S. access to natural resources in exchange for America’s support of Ukraine amid its war with Russia, was days in the making. Trump said on Friday that his administration was "pretty close" to striking a deal, and on Monday, he hinted that a meeting between him and Zelenskyy was imminent.
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"It'll be a deal with rare earths and various other things. And, he would like to come, as I understand it, here to sign it. And that would be great with me," Trump said. "I think they then have to get it approved by their council or whoever might approve it, but I'm sure that will happen."
Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has prioritized recouping the cost of U.S. aid to Ukraine by gaining access to Ukrainian resources, including titanium, iron and uranium. U.S. aid to the war-torn country has totaled tens of billions of dollars since February 2022.
That commitment has led to tension between him and Zelenskyy, and Trump ridiculed the politician as a "modestly successful comedian" in a Truth Social post last week.
"A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left," Trump’s post reads. "In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going."
"I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues….."
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously lauded the potential pact in a Sunday interview on "Sunday Morning Futures."
"The first part of this is a partnership between Ukraine and the U.S. that involves strategic minerals, energy and state-owned enterprises, where we set up a partnership, and we are only looking forward," Bessent said.
"We make money if the Ukrainian people make money, and I believe that with the United States of America, our businesses are willing to come in and provide capital that we can accelerate the Ukrainian growth trajectory and take in substantial monies for the U.S. taxpayers and get the Ukrainian economy on a great growth trajectory."
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to cooperating with the U.S. if Trump signals interest in mining minerals in Russia and Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
"Russia is one of the undisputed leaders in terms of reserves of these rare and rare-earth metals," Putin said during an interview on Russian state television. "These are quite capital-intensive investments, capital-intensive projects. We would be happy to work together with any foreign partners, including American ones."
Reuters and Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penley, Brooke Singman and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
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