Zelenskyy to meet with Trump at the White House amid peace talk efforts and possible minerals deal
The meeting comes after the Ukrainian president drew Trump’s ire by rejecting a rare-earth minerals proposal and insisting that Ukraine be included in any peace talks with Russia.
President Donald Trump is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday in their first meeting since the United States began direct negotiations with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine and as the countries move closer to securing a mineral rights deal.
Zelenskyy’s visit is expected to focus in large part on a potential deal with the U.S. on Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals, which are used to make a variety of tech products.
Trump previewed the visit during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, signaling that the two countries had made progress on an agreement that would grant the U.S. a significant ownership stake in Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals as a form of repayment for Washington’s support of Kyiv since Russia invaded in February 2022.
“We’re going to be signing an agreement, which will be a very big agreement,” Trump said.
An administration source with knowledge of the final deal said the objective was to create a valuable asset for the United States that offered both countries an economic upside. The source said the deal offers a “very clear signal to the Russian government, and to really the entire world, that the U.S. has a critical investment in the future of Ukraine, and that itself, on an economic security arrangement, is one that provides very, very strong deterrent value.”
“That, in some respects, could recreate what an additional security guarantee would, although without obviously obligating the US to do something like that,” the source said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent became the first member of Trump’s cabinet to visit the Ukraine when he met with Zelensky in Kyiv to present a draft agreement that would have granted the United States ownership of an estimated half of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, and offered a way for Ukraine to repay the U.S. for the money it has spent in support of the war effort, two officials told NBC News.
On Thursday, Bessent said that a deal between the United States and Ukraine for mineral rights had been finalized, saying in a Fox News interview with Larry Kudlow, “The deal is done.”
The deal borrows some thinking from the private sector, the source said, explaining this as, “show me the incentives, and I’ll show you the outcome.”
“What we’re really trying to do is create the right incentive to create as much value as possible for the U.S. and the Ukrainian people,” the source said. The person described it as “the model of international economic agreements moving forward because of the alignment of interest.”
Trump and allied leaders have presented the mineral rights agreement as an important step forward for Ukraine on the road to peace with Russia more than three years after it invaded.
Zelenskyy last met with Trump in December, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, ahead of an event celebrating the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Months earlier, the two met in New York. The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington said that was where Zelenskyy first presented Trump a “Victory Plan” that included the exchange of the country’s “natural resources and critical metals.”
U.S. officials initiated peace talks with Russian negotiators this month in Saudi Arabia, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the U.S. delegation. It was the first time Russian and American officials had met in person during the Trump administration with the express intent of bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.
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Trump has long accused Zelenskyy of taking undue advantage of the U.S. and goading then-President Joe Biden into spending billions of U.S. dollars on a war that “couldn’t be won.”
The minerals agreement, Trump argues, would serve as reimbursement for the nearly $66 billion in military assistance the U.S. has provided Ukraine over the past three years, and it could create an “economic partnership” between the two countries.
“The minerals agreement will provide the basis for a more sustainable future relationship between the United States and Ukraine and thus stimulate the long-term prosperity that will help the Ukrainians rebuild their country,” Trump said Wednesday.
Ukraine has some of the world’s largest reserves of titanium and iron ore. Many of the minerals, however, are in areas controlled by Russian troops, according to U.S. officials.
Russia has proposed a similar deal that would give the U.S. ownership of rare-earth minerals and valuable metals in Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory, an idea that both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have signaled interest in.
Zelenskyy this month rebuffed the initial U.S. offer on rare-earth minerals, saying it did not include strong enough security guarantees for Ukraine.
The rejection, paired with Zelenskyy’s insistence that Ukrainian officials be involved in U.S.-Russia talks to end the war, drew Trump’s fury.
After Zelenskyy accused Trump of living in a Russian “disinformation bubble,” Trump maligned him as “a Dictator without Elections,” arguing without evidence that Zelenskyy decided to postpone elections as Ukraine battles Russia because of low popularity numbers.
Trump later told Fox News that Zelenskyy would hamstring his efforts to negotiate an end to the war.
“I don’t think he’s very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you. He’s been there for three years. He makes it very hard to make deals,” Trump said.
He struck a more conciliatory tone Thursday at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“We’re going to get along really well,” Trump said of Zelenskyy. “I have a lot of respect for him. We’ve given him a lot of equipment and a lot of money, but they have fought very bravely, no matter how you figure.”
Both Starmer and Macron, who was at the White House on Monday, reaffirmed their support for Zelenskyy during their meetings with Trump.
Starmer praised Trump on Thursday for creating a “tremendous opportunity to reach a historic peace deal” but cautioned him against negotiating an agreement that favors Russia.
“It can’t be peace that rewards the aggressor,” Starmer said. “We agree history must be on the side of the peacemaker, not the invader.”
Macron said at a joint news conference with Trump that any peace agreement must include strong security guarantees for Ukraine.
“Peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine. It must not mean a ceasefire without guarantees. This peace must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders regarding the issues it affects,” Macron said.