Zelensky reveals when he plans to meet with Trump as tension mounts

Washington DC - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday he hoped to visit Washington on Friday to strike a minerals deal with the US and discuss future aid with President Donald Trump.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (l.) said Wednesday he hoped to visit Washington on Friday to strike a minerals deal with the US and discuss future aid with President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (l.) said Wednesday he hoped to visit Washington on Friday to strike a minerals deal with the US and discuss future aid with President Donald Trump.  © Collage: Alex WROBLEWSKI & Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP

Trump has demanded Ukraine give access to its rare earth minerals to compensate for the billions of dollars of wartime aid it received under Joe Biden.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP late Tuesday that Kyiv had agreed on the terms of the deal, which would see the US jointly develop Ukraine's mineral resources, and that Zelensky could sign it on Friday in Washington.

"I would like to have this visit very much," Zelensky told reporters on Wednesday.

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"This is just a start, a framework, it can be a big success. The success will depend on our conversation with President Trump," he added.

Zelensky said that revenues from the resources deal would be deposited in a fund co-owned by Ukraine and the US and that Kyiv would not be "a debtor" over aid provided under the Biden administration.

"This would be unfair to us," Zelensky said.

Ukraine seeks security guarantees from US

He also said he would ask Trump whether Washington would halt aid altogether and, if so, whether Ukraine could still buy weapons from the US.

Ukraine hopes the deal will improve relations with the Trump administration, which have soured in a war of words between Trump and Zelensky.

Kyiv also wants security guarantees, though the current draft of the deal does not place any specific security commitments on the US, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.

Cover photo: Collage: Alex WROBLEWSKI & Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP

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