US President Donald Trump greeted his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday as the pair prepared to sign a minerals deal that could pave the way for an end to the war in Ukraine.
The deal would set up a joint US-Ukrainian “investment fund” that would receive 50 per cent of all revenues from the “future monetisation” of natural resources owned by Kyiv.
The text lacks explicit US security guarantees that Zelenskyy had sought, but on Thursday Trump said the presence of American workers and economic interests in Ukraine would be a sufficient deterrent to possible Russian aggression.
Ukrainian officials were able to persuade the US to strip out some of its most onerous provisions, including demands for a right to $500bn in potential revenue.
Zelenskyy will use his visit to try to secure a seat at the negotiating table after Trump blindsided Kyiv and other European capitals by launching direct talks with Putin over ending the conflict.
The Ukrainian president has said he would reject any peace deal Kyiv was not involved in negotiating.
His relationship with Trump was further strained when the US president called him a “dictator” this month. However, when asked about the remark during his meeting with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday, Trump said: “Did I say that?”
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