U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he expects Ukraine to accept soon a proposed deal that would include U.S. investments in its mineral assets to help recoup some U.S. defense funding.
"We're signing an agreement, hopefully in the next fairly short period of time, that will assure us that we'll get four or $500 billion back" Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about a potential deal.
"It's a big deal, but they [Ukrainians] want it, and it keeps us in that country," he said, adding "we get our money back. This should have been signed long before we went in."
The Trump administration has proposed the rare earth mineral deal as part of a larger negotiation toward ending the war in Ukraine.
The president's comments follow reports that his administration has presented Kyiv with a revised version of a minerals agreement after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the initial proposal.
U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz made similar comments earlier Friday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington.
"Well, look, here's the bottom line: President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal. And you will see that in the very short term. And that is good for Ukraine," he said.
The discussion about a mineral deal follows sharp exchanges this week between Trump and Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian president, responding to Trump's suggestion that Ukraine started the war with Russia, said the U.S. president was living in a Russian-influenced "disinformation space."
Trump countered on his Truth Social platform, calling Zelenskyy a "dictator without elections."
On Friday, Trump referenced his indirect exchanges with Zelenskyy while making comments to a gathering of the Republican State Governors Association at the White House. The president described having "very good talks with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," and "not such good talks with Ukraine." He mentioned how Ukraine talks "tough" but does not have a lot of bargaining chips.
Diplomatic bomb
On Monday, the international community will hold a meeting in the United Nations General Assembly marking the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, has circulated a draft resolution it plans to put to a vote at the session.
The document stresses "the urgent need to end the war this year" through a "comprehensive, just and lasting peace" based on the principles of the U.N. Charter and calls for the full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine "within its internationally recognized borders."
However, Ukraine's plans were upended late Friday, when the Trump administration circulated their own draft resolution. Entitled "The Path to Peace," the 65-word text mourns "the tragic loss of life throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict" and "implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia."
Diplomats said European ambassadors were meeting to discuss the surprise move, which could hurt support for their text or even force them to abandon the effort altogether.
Russia's envoy told reporters the U.S. draft is "a good move."
"But there is one important point missing," Vassily Nebenzia said. "The root causes. We should address the root causes."
His delegation circulated an amendment to Washington's text adding such a statement.
Moscow has long attempted to justify its illegal invasion of Ukraine by saying Russian-speaking minorities in eastern Ukraine have been persecuted by the Kyiv government. The Kremlin also has accused the Ukrainian government of being "Nazis" and "fascists."
Moscow has also decried what it says is NATO expansionism into its neighborhood.
Richard Gowan, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group, said on social media platform X that he expects "the EU and Ukraine to table counter-amendments and make the U.S. text unworkable."
Ongoing discussions
Trump sent his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired U.S. Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, for meetings Thursday with Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Comments following that meeting indicated the relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine was being smoothed over.
On his X social media account, Zelenskyy had only positive things to say.
"My meeting with General Kellogg was one that restores hope, and we need strong agreements with the U.S. — agreements that will truly work," Zelenskyy said. "I have instructed my team to work quickly and very sensibly."
Kellogg, from his X account, re-posted Zelenskyy's comments, and stated, "Extensive and positive discussions with [President Zelenskyy], the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war and his talented national security team."
Much of the tension this past week surrounded talks about the war in Ukraine between a U.S. delegation led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia. No Ukrainian or European representatives were present.
Rubio later noted that the meeting did not involve any fine points of a deal.
When Trump was asked by reporters Friday if he would be going to Moscow, the president dismissed such reports, saying "No, no I'm not."
Ukraine fears that Trump is moving to settle the war on terms that could be more favorable to Moscow. Russia currently controls about a fifth of Ukraine's internationally recognized territory.
European leaders have responded to Trump's recent remarks about Ukraine by pledging to step up spending on defense, and some are considering a U.S.-backed European peacekeeping force for the country if the fighting ends. The Kremlin says the plan is a major cause for concern, but Zelenskyy and NATO have welcomed it.
Margaret Besheer, Tatiana Vorozhko Koprowicz, Myroslava Gongadze and Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
