Trump and Ukraine in huge minerals deal development after Zelensky’s chaotic Oval Office dust-up
President Donald Trump’s administration and Ukraine plan to sign the much-debated minerals deal following his disastrous Oval Office meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky.
It comes after Trump turned the screws on the U.S. ally by pausing U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
Trump has told his advisers that he wants to announce the agreement in his address to Congress Tuesday evening, according to three sources.
They cautioned that the deal had yet to be signed and the situation could change.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ukraine’s presidential administration in Kyiv and the Ukrainian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The deal, if salvaged, would mark a stunning turnaround from Friday, when Trump held an angry Oval Office meeting with Zelensky and Vice President JD Vance, with Trump questioning whether Zelensky wanted peace and Vance repeatedly urging him to say ‘thank you.’
It resulted in the Ukrainian leader’s swift departure from the White House before a planned luncheon and press conference.
Zelensky had traveled to Washington to sign the deal.
Donald Trump may announce the deal to Congress
‘You’re gambling with World War III,’ Trump lectured during the meeting.
The blowup threatened to throw the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, and on Monday the Trump administration suspended U.S. military support for the embattled nation.
European leaders huddled over the weekend to explore ways to try to fill Kiev’s need for arms and funds. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said a ‘coalition of the willing’ would forge ahead, but there were serious concerns about Ukraine’s path forward without U.S. support.
U.S. officials have in recent days spoken to officials in Kyiv about signing the minerals deal despite Friday’s blow-up.
They urged Zelensky’s advisers to convince the Ukrainian president to apologize openly to Trump, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
President Donald Trump greets President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, Friday, February 28, 2025
President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting in the Oval Office became a shouting match
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) has called for a truce in the sky and sea
Vice President J.D. Vance says it’s ‘absurdly dishonest’ to say he attacked European allies of France and the U.K. during his interview with Sean Hannity
On Tuesday, Zelensky posted on X that Ukraine was ready to sign the deal and called the Oval Office meeting ‘regrettable.’
He wrote: ‘Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.’
It came after a week spent posting about gratitude for the U.S., even as he pressed the need for ‘security,’ after Moscow reneged on multiple past cease fires and other commitments.
The wartime leader today said in a post to X that he was keen to agree on a truce in the sky and sea ‘immediately, if Russia will do the same.’
‘My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,’ he wrote, providing some of the praise that Trump’s team expects. He also thanked Trump for providing javelin missiles to Ukraine years ago.
‘We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same.
At the end of his post, Zelensky got to what Trump and his team have been pushing for.
‘Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format.
‘We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively,’ he wrote.
Monday night, Trump’s administration said it was pausing all military aid following a major spat in the White House last week.
In the wake of this, senior British government sources warned that Zelensky’s position may be untenable without access to American military aid.
An anonymous senior official told The Times that Ukraine could ‘last a matter of months, maybe less’ unless the flow of support from Washington resumes.
Vice President JD Vance in an appearance on ‘Hannity’ on Fox News talked up the importance of the deal, calling it tantamount to security by tying Ukraine to U.S. companies, even while diminishing the impact of peacekeepers under consideration.
Vance told Hannity: ‘If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine.’
‘That has a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years,’ he added. ‘The security guarantee, and also the economic guarantee for Ukraine is to rebuild the country, and ensure that America has a long term interest.’
‘You’re not going to do that if you come to the oval office, insult the president and refuse to follow his plan for peace,’ he concluded.
Ukraine has been devastated by war since February 2022. Zelensky said: ‘We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same’
