After their visits to Washington, Keir Starmer is expected to host Zelensky in Britain this weekend. Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the White House on Friday to sign a minerals deal, Donald Trump said, though international agreement on possible peace talks remains far less clear.
The deal, under which Kyiv would hand some revenue from rare earth deposits in Ukraine to a fund jointly controlled by Washington, is central to Zelensky’s attempts to win strong support as he seeks a quick end to Russia's war. Mr Trump hailed it as “a very big agreement” at the start of the first cabinet meeting of his second term, attended by unelected billionaire Elon Musk.
The US president confirmed Zelensky would be at the White House on Friday – after Thursday’s visit by Sir Keir Starmer, but suggested the US would not be making far-reaching security guarantees. He has framed the emerging mineral deal as a way for Kyiv to repay the US for aid already sent to the war effort under former president Joe Biden.
After their respective visits to Washington, Sir Keir is expected to host Zelensky in Britain this weekend. Trump said he hopes to speak face to face with Vladimir Putin soon. He declined to detail what concessions he would ask the two sides to make, but he underscored his administration's position that Ukraine’s aspiration to join Nato is not tenable – a stance at odds with Britain and other western allies.
“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 the money back and a lot of money in the future,” Mr Trump said. Mr Zelensky said in Kyiv that a framework of an economic deal had been reached, but that it did not yet include US security guarantees, which his country sees as vital.
The full agreement could hinge on the upcoming talks in Washington. The framework is a preliminary step toward a comprehensive package that will be subject to ratification by the Ukrainian parliament, Mr Zelensky said. Ukraine needs to know first where the US stands on its continued military support, he added.
“This agreement could be part of future security guarantees... an agreement is an agreement, but we need to understand the broader vision,” he said/. “This deal could be a great success or it could pass quietly. And the big success depends on our conversation with President Trump.”.
A copy of a draft agreement, seen by Reuters and dated 25 February, said: "The government of the United States of America supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace.". Fighting has continued in Ukraine during the recent flurry of diplomacy, with Ukraine frequently coming under attack from Russian missiles and drones in Europe's deadliest conflict since the Second World War.
Trump has been fiercely critical of Zelensky and has upended US policy on the conflict, calling him a “dictator” and ending a campaign to isolate Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022. Trump spoke to Putin on 12 February and a meeting of Russian and US foreign ministers took place in Saudi Arabia on 18 February.
Russian and US diplomats will meet in Istanbul on Thursday for talks aimed at restoring their respective diplomatic missions. The warming of ties between Washington and Moscow has alarmed European allies. "To be clear, there are no political or security issues on the agenda. Ukraine is not on the agenda,” a US State Department spokesperson said.
Mr Trump has said he wants to move quickly towards a ceasefire in Ukraine, but Putin this week tempered expectations of rapid progress, saying nothing could be achieved without restoring trust between Russia and the United States. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.
.png?auto=webp&width=800)
