President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States and Ukraine have "worked out" the details of the minerals agreement the two sides have been working on for a couple of weeks.
The deal's framework calls for Ukraine to create a joint investment fund to which Ukraine would contribute 50% of its future proceeds from its natural resources. The Trump administration has pursued this deal, the basic outline of which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested to the previous administration, as a means to reimburse the U.S. for the tens of billions of dollars' worth of military aid it has provided to Ukraine over the last three years.
"We're going to be signing an agreement, which will be a very big agreement," he said ahead of his first entire Cabinet meeting. "That'll be on rare earth and other things."
Many of the finalized details are unknown, though Zelensky is set to visit the White House on Friday to sign the deal. Ukrainian leaders have pressed for U.S. security guarantees, though it's unclear if any are included in the final agreement.
Asked about U.S. security guarantees, Trump said, “I’m not going to make security guarantees very much because we’re going to have Europe do that."
Shortly afterward, Zelensky said “peace and security guarantees are the key to ensuring that Russia can no longer destroy the lives of other nations.”
Trump and Zelensky exchanged insults after the Ukrainian leader's initial refusal of the proposal laid out by the U.S. government.
The Trump administration is simultaneously trying to negotiate an end to Russia's war in Ukraine and has done so, in part, by warming relations with Moscow.
U.S. and Russian senior officials met last week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to initiate conversations about ending the war. The diplomats agreed to start the resumption of missions in both countries. Following the meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio teased "incredible opportunities" that the U.S. and Russia could partner on if the war "comes to an acceptable end."
Vice president JD Vance, at the cabinet meeting, pushed back on claims that Trump had already made concessions to Moscow.
“Every single time the president engages in diplomacy, you guys preemptively accuse him of conceding to Russia,” he said. “He hasn't conceded anything to anyone. He's doing the job of a diplomat."
It's unclear, however, whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is genuinely interested in ending the war that he unilaterally began and has continued despite his ability to end it at any point.
US-UKRAINE RELATIONSHIP REACHES INFLECTION POINT ON THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF WAR
Several U.S. officials have declined to recognize publicly Russia's responsibility in launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 following Trump's criticism of Zelensky. The president called the Ukrainian a leader who was at fault for the conflict.
Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said last weekend that Russia was "provoked" to invade Ukraine, while Mike Waltz, the president's national security adviser, declined to say last week who the president believes is "more responsible for the Russian invasion of Ukraine" and whether Trump believes Putin is a "dictator."
The language coming from the administration, in addition to a recent vote at the United Nations against a resolution blaming the war on Russia, has raised concerns for some lawmakers.
"Three years ago, the world watched in disbelief as Vladimir Putin attempted to upend democracy in Ukraine by launching a brutal and unprovoked invasion,” Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) said.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said in a statement earlier this week, "The Trump Administration royally screwed up today on Ukraine. The vast majority of Americans stand up for independence, freedom and free markets, and against the bully and invader.”