A couple of days after leaving the White House without an agreement, the Ukrainian president told reporters that his country is ready to sign a minerals deal with the US.
ADVERTISEMENTUkraine is ready to sign the minerals deal with Washington, despite the heated argument between him and his US counterpart on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters late Sunday.
Mere days after leaving the White House without signing the deal with US President Donald Trump, Zelenskyy said, "I just want the Ukrainian position to be heard. We want our partners to remember who the aggressor is in this war."
The meeting turned into a terse exchange of words live on TV, with Trump concluding the raw minerals deal — which brought Zelenskyy to the White House to begin with — was off.
"I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform Friday.
"I don’t want advantage, I want peace. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for peace," he announced.
US access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals was first presented to Zelenskyy by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier in February.
Washington is asking for a 50% cut of all revenues generated from Ukraine's mineral and natural resources in what US officials have said is payment for previous military support.
According to the deal, Ukraine will contribute the proceeds to a fund, which will then be invested to "promote the safety, security and prosperity of Ukraine."
Zelenskyy has said that the deal must include real security guarantees for Ukraine and warned against further Russian aggression if these were not put into place.
His comments about the deal came at the end of a two-day summit in the United Kingdom, where UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK and France would gather a "coalition of the willing" that would draw up a peace plan for Ukraine.
“We are at a crossroads in history today,” Starmer said.
“This is not a moment for more talk. It’s time to act. Time to step up and lead and to unite around a new plan for a just and enduring peace.”
Prior to this, Bessent told CBS News that the Ukrainian leader had "thrown off the sequencing" of how the minerals and peace deal were supposed to play out, insisting the discussions should have taken place in private.
It was "impossible to have an economic deal without a peace deal," Bessent said.