Trump says Zelenskyy to visit Washington on Friday to sign critical mineral deal
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to finalize a critical minerals agreement with the US, which he said "brings us great wealth",El.kz cites Anadolu.
"President Zelensky is going to be coming on Friday. That's now confirmed, and we're going to be signing an agreement, which will be a very big agreement," Trump told reporters as he convened his Cabinet for the first time since he assumed office last month.
Trump thanked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for their work on forging the agreement, which he said will include rights for Ukraine's rare earth minerals and other natural resources.
"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 our money back, and we're going to get a lot of money in the future. And I think that's appropriate, because we have taxpayers that shouldn't be footing the bill, and they shouldn't be footing the bill at more than the Europeans are paying," he said.
"So, it's all been worked out. We're happy about it, and I think that very importantly, we're going to be able to make a deal," he added.
Zelenskyy also confirmed that he plans to meet with Trump to discuss security guarantees and US support for Ukraine. He said in a video statement: “Our teams are working with America, we are preparing for negotiations this Friday. An agreement with America."
"Guarantees of peace and security are the key to preventing Russia from destroying the lives of other nations,” Zelensky added, according to Ukraine's national news agency Ukrinform.
He emphasized that it is very important that US's assistance is not halted.
Ukraine is sitting on massive reserves of critical rare earth minerals that could total trillions of dollars. It holds about 5% of the world’s total mineral resources, according to a 2024 World Economic Forum report. Besides having one of the largest confirmed reserves of lithium, Ukraine boasts semiconductor-grade neon gas that is critical for chip production, beryllium, uranium, zirconium, apatite, iron ore and manganese.
Negotiations had centered on two major sticking points between Washington and Kyiv, including security guarantees for Ukraine and whether the mineral rights would be exchanged solely for future US military aid, or if they would cover previous installments that were given to Kyiv by the Biden administration.
Trump sent mixed signals on both points when he addressed reporters Wednesday. He said the revenue would recoup costs associated with US military and economic assistance provided by former US President Joe Biden in addition to future funding. He also said the US would not be providing security guarantees to Ukraine "beyond very much," but later signaled Washington would protect personnel working on extracting mineral resources.
"It's a great deal for Ukraine too, because they get us over there, and we're going to be working over there. We'll be on the land. And, you know, in that way, there's sort of automatic security, because nobody's going to be messing around with our people when we're there. And so, we'll be there in that way," he said.
"We'll be really partnering with Ukraine in terms of rare earth. We very much need rare earth. They have great rare earth," he added.
Trump lauded offers from European nations to deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine as part of any peace deal with Russia, calling the proposals "a great thing," but ruled out any prospects of Kyiv joining the 32-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
"But I can tell you that NATO, you can forget about it. That's been, I think, that's probably the reason the whole thing started," he said, alluding to Russia's war against Ukraine.
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