WASHINGTON —
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and sign a critical minerals deal Friday as Kyiv works to regain U.S. support to fight off the Russian invasion.
The minerals agreement negotiated in recent days would open up Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth to the United States but does not include American security guarantees, a disappointment for Ukraine.
It gives Washington the right to recoup some of the billions of dollars in costs of the U.S. weaponry supplied to Kyiv through a reconstruction investment fund tied to the sale of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.
A Center for Strategic and International Studies report last year found that about two-thirds of the money Congress appropriated for Ukraine was spent in the United States. Ukraine hopes the agreement will spur Trump to support Kyiv’s efforts to recapture territory seized by Russia. The deal also could win support from Republicans in Congress for a new round of aid to the war-torn country.
Trump has engaged in a long-distance feud with Zelenskyy in recent weeks, criticizing his handling of the war, calling him a dictator and urging him to agree to the minerals deal. But during a joint news conference with visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, Trump said: “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that.”
Trump also noted he was looking forward to meeting Zelenskyy and praised the Ukrainian military for its bravery. “We’re working very hard to get that war brought to an end. I think we’ve made a lot of progress, and I think it’s moving along pretty rapidly,” Trump said.
“It’ll either be fairly soon or it won’t be at all,” he added, without elaboration.
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