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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to journalists during press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday. Evgeniy Maloletka/AP hide caption
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Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a framework deal with the United States on Ukraine's critical raw materials is nearing completion, though key details are still under negotiation.
President Trump said Zelenskyy will come to Washington on Friday to sign a minerals deal, although that has not been confirmed by Kyiv.
"That's now confirmed, and we're going to be signing an agreement, which will be a very big agreement," Trump said at the start of a meeting with his cabinet.
"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," he said, adding that U.S. taxpayers "shouldn't be footing the bill."
Speaking to journalists at the Presidential Palace in Kyiv, Zelenskyy described the framework as a preliminary step toward a broader agreement. The discussions center on which raw materials Ukraine will supply to the U.S. and what security guarantees Ukraine might receive in return.
"The priority is not to lose the U.S. as a main guarantor of security for Ukraine," Zelenskyy stated, emphasizing the importance of American support as the war started by Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 enters its fourth year.
President Trump has reportedly suggested that Ukraine should compensate the U.S. for past military aid, quoting a figure — $350 billion — significantly higher than the actual aid amount, which is about half that, according to academics who track aid to Ukraine from around the world. Zelenskyy, however, dismissed the idea of accepting such conditions.
