President Donald Trump He said that he would reveal the future of a rare earth minerals with Ukraine on Tuesday during his speech to congress, after peace negotiations with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zenskyy came to a halt on Friday after a disorderly visit from the White House.
Zenskyy visited Washington on Friday in the midst of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, and was ready to sign a mineral agreement that would give the US access to the minerals of Ukraine in exchange for American support in the country.
But after a tense exchange between Trump, vice -president JD Vance and Zenskyy about or Diplomacy was the right avenue To conclude a peace agreement and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trusted, Trump kicked Zenskyy from the White House and said that the Ukrainian leader could return when he was ready for peace.
On Monday asked about the status of the rare-earth mineral agreement, Trump told reporters that he would reveal where the deal is when he tackles a joint session of the congress in a speech related to the annual state of the Union on Tuesday.
“I will let you know,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “We give a speech, you probably heard about it tomorrow night. I’ll let you know tomorrow night … it’s a lot for us.”
Zenskyy told reporters in London on Sunday that he was still on board with the deal, and that he will persist the relationship between Ukraine and the US.
President Donald Trump, right, meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zenskyy in the Oval Office in the White House on February 28, 2025. (Mystyslav Chernov/The Associated Press)
Trump also said on Monday that he wanted to see the Ukrainian leader express it out of more gratitude for American support during the war to regain peace negotiations with Zenskyy.
“I just think he should be more grateful because this country stayed with him through him,” Trump said. “We have given them much more than Europe, and Europe should have given more than we because, as you know, that is there, that is the border.”
Trump rather greeted the mineral agreement as a breakthrough deal that would benefit both the US and Ukraine, praising that it would serve as the basis for a more “sustainable” future relationship between the two countries and the US giving access to resources such as oil and gas that “we need for our country.”
“We are going to sign a very important agreement for both parties, because it will really bring us to that country,” Trump told reporters on Thursday, met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “We will let a lot of people work there and so it is very good in that sense.”
Trump also said on Thursday that it would reimburse taxpayers for financial contributions that support Ukraine after the Russia invasion in 2022.
President Donald Trump meets Ukrainian President Volodyymyr Zenskyy as the American vice president JD Vance responds in the White House on 28 February 2025. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Accurate figures on financial assistance to Ukraine vary somewhat, depending on what is considered help. However, the Council for Foreign Relations reports that since 2022 the congress has appropriated $ 175 billion for Ukraine’s assistance.
All European help to Ukraine between January 2022 and December 2024 is around $ 138.7 billion, estimates German think tank Kiel Institute. The organization also estimates that the US contributed $ 119.7 billion in the same time frame.
The meeting between Trump, Vance and Zenskyy said after Zenskyy said that Putin could not be trusted and had broken other similarities. Trump and Vance then accused Zolenskyy of not being grateful for the support that the US has offered over the years and said that the Ukrainian leader was in a “bad position” at the negotiating table.
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“You play cards,” Trump said Friday. “You are gambling with the lives of millions of people. You are gambling with the Second World War. You are gambling with the Second World War. And what you do is very disrespectful for the country, this country.”
After his departure from the White House on Friday, Zenskyy gave a social media post about X that is grateful to the US for its support.
“Thank you America, thanks for your support, thanks for this visit,” said Zenskyy. “Thanks @potus, the congress and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we work exactly for that.”
