US President Donald Trump said Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the White House on Friday to sign a long-sought minerals deal that will closely tie the two countries together for years to come.
Mr Trump made the announcement at start of the first cabinet meeting of his second term on Wednesday, hailing the deal as “a very big agreement”.
The Republican president has long complained that the United States has spent too much taxpayer money to support Ukraine in the war with Russia that began when the Kremlin invaded three years ago.
US President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with France’s President Emmanuel Macron in the Oval Office of the White House (AP)
Mr Trump has framed the emerging deal that would give the US access to so-called rare earth deposits in Ukraine as a chance for Kyiv to pay back the US for aid already sent for the war effort under former Democratic president Joe Biden.
“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 and a lot of money in the future,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Zelensky said in a news conference early on Wednesday 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, Mr Zelensky added.
He said he expected a wide-ranging conversation with Mr Trump.
The economic agreement “may be part of future security guarantees, but I want to understand the broader vision. What awaits Ukraine?” Mr Zelensky said.
A Russian Army sniper fires toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP)
Since returning to office last month, Mr Trump let Ukraine know that he wanted something in return for tens of billions of dollars in US help for Ukraine.
The White House has applied heavy pressure on Ukraine to grant American access to its vast reserves of minerals that are used in the aerospace, defence and nuclear industries.
Mr Zelensky balked at initial US offers, arguing they did not contain adequate security assurances for Ukraine and that the proposed price tag of 500 billion dollars would saddle generations of Ukrainians with debt.
But Kyiv is also keen to use the investments as a way of locking the US into Ukraine’s fate.
The latest version of the agreement, seen by The Associated Press, says the US “supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace”.
It does not spell out any US commitment to provide them.
“Participants will seek to identify any necessary steps to protect mutual investments as defined in the… agreement,” it says.
After Mr Zelensky spoke, a White House official made clear that accepting the agreement would be a precondition of Mr Trump’s invitation to meet on Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to journalists during a press conference in Kyiv (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the invitation.
“This agreement may either be a great success or quietly fade away,” Mr Zelensky said. “And I believe success depends on our conversation with President Trump.”
“I want to coordinate with the US,” Mr Zelensky added.
Mr Trump has abruptly ditched some previous Washington policies.
He scrapped efforts to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin and cast doubt on US support for its European allies.
That has brought momentous geopolitical shifts that could reset the war’s path this year.
Diplomats from Russia and the US will meet Thursday in Istanbul to discuss the operation of their respective embassies in Moscow and Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.
Mr Zelensky said he wants to discuss with Trump whether the US plans to halt military aid and, if so, whether Ukraine would be able to purchase weapons directly from the US.
He also wants to know whether Ukraine can use frozen Russian assets for the purchase of weapons and investments and whether Washington plans to lift sanctions on Russia.
The preliminary economic agreement also sets out the terms and conditions of an investment fund for the rebuilding of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.