Zelensky urges Trump to make no compromises with Russia

Minerals deal lacks US security guarantees, disappointing Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged President Donald Trump on Friday to make “no compromises with a killer”, referring to Russia's leader, as they met to sign a deal for US participation in Ukraine's mineral industry.

Trump and Zelensky sat down for talks in the Oval Office as Kyiv works to bolster US support and Trump opens talks with Moscow.

Zelensky, who gained billions of dollars' worth of US weaponry and moral support from the Biden administration for its fight against Russia, is facing a sharply different attitude from Trump. Trump wants to quickly wind down the three-year war, improve ties with Russia and recoup money spent to support Ukraine.

Trump welcomed Zelenskiy on his arrival at the White House before they headed for talks, lunch and then a joint press conference where they were to sign the agreement.

“I hope I'm going to be remembered as a peacemaker,” Trump said.

Zelensky used blunt language to describe Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging Trump to make “no compromises with a killer.”

Trump told Zelensky that his soldiers have been unbelievably brave and that the US wants to see an end to the fighting and the money put to “different kinds of use like rebuilding”.

Trump has adopted a much less committed stance toward European security, a change in tone that has sent shockwaves across Europe and stoked fears in Kyiv and among its allies that it could be forced into a peace deal that favours Russia.

The agreement negotiated in recent days would open up Ukraine's vast mineral wealth to the US but does not include explicit American security guarantees for Ukraine, a disappointment for Kyiv. Trump says the presence of Americans in business would serve as a form of guarantee.

How much the deal would be worth to the US is not spelled out. Trump has said he expects to gain hundreds of billions of dollars. Zelensky has said he would not sign an agreement that would put his country in debt for generations.

Ukraine would contribute 50% of “all revenues earned from the future monetisation of all relevant Ukrainian government-owned natural resource assets” to a reconstruction fund jointly owned and managed by the US and Ukraine.

The agreement does not specify how the funds would be spent, or identify specific assets it covers, though it says they would include deposits of minerals, oil and natural gas as well as infrastructure such as gas terminals and ports.

The Washington talks are a diplomatic boost for Zelensky who has repeatedly spoken of the importance of meeting Trump in person before the US president holds talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The Ukrainians have been quite savvy at turning it round, and using this [the minerals deal] as an opening to engage the US,” said a senior Kyiv-based European diplomat, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Kyiv hopes the agreement will spur Trump to back Ukraine's war effort, and potentially even win support from Republicans in Congress for a new round of aid.

Ukraine has rapidly expanded its defence industry production but remains heavily reliant on foreign military assistance, while also struggling to replenish manpower as it battles a much larger foe.

While Ukraine repelled Russia's invasion from the outskirts of Kyiv and recaptured swathes of territory in 2022, Russia still controls around a fifth of Ukraine and has been slowly taking ground since a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023. Kyiv's troops hold a chunk of land in Russia's western Kursk region after a 2024 incursion.

PUBLIC RIFT

Trump has engaged in a long-distance feud with Zelensky in recent weeks, criticising his handling of the war, calling him a “dictator” and urging him to agree to the minerals deal. But asked about the dictator comment during a joint news conference with visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, Trump said: “Did I say that? I can't believe I said that.”

Starmer said he and Trump had discussed a plan to reach a peace that is “tough and fair, that Ukraine will help shape, that is backed by strength to stop Putin coming back for more”.

Starmer said Britain was prepared to contribute military personnel to serve as peacekeepers “because that is the only way that peace will last”. Trump dodged a plea from Starmer for US participation.