Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky is set to sign a major mineral deal with the US.
This comes after President Donald Trump reportedly dropped his $500 billion demand.
In a press conference held in Kyiv, Ukraine, Zelensky said that the deal could be a ‘big success’, while stressing that his biggest property is the continuation of US aid to the country.
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The two leaders are expected to meet at the White House on Friday (February 28), with Zelensky adding: “The success will depend on our conversation with President Trump.”
Not much is known about what the minerals agreement actually entails, although Zelensky has said that he is pushing for security guarantees from the US.
During the Biden administration, the US was a key military aid provider for the country but that has since been thrown into question with Trump’s return to the Oval Office.
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The president has suggested that they revise what assistance the US provides to Ukraine.
Zelensky seemed firm on the fact that security guarantees must be included in the deal for him to agree to it, adding that there must be at least a ‘sentence’ on military promises from the US.
However, Trump is less keen, having reiterated his position that these assurances should be coming from Ukraine’s ‘next door neighbor’, Europe.
Trump had previously made a request for $500 billion worth of minerals from Ukraine in return for their assistance, but that has since been dropped.
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And according to a report by the BBC, a senior Ukrainian official revealed that an agreement on the US access to Ukraine’s rare natural resources had been met.
Trump held his first cabinet meeting yesterday (February 26) where he confirmed that Friday’s meeting with Zelensky will be going ahead.
He claimed that the two countries would sign an expansive minerals deal that would enable the US to ‘get our money back’.
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Trump continued: “We’re going to get a lot of money in the future, and I think that’s appropriate, because we have taxpayers that shouldn't be footing the bill. It’s all been worked out.”
And it seems like the two leaders may find themselves at odds when they meet as, when asked about the security guarantees Ukraine wants to see, Trump claimed that the US would not be providing any.
Instead, he argued that it should fall to Europe to make those promises.
It looks like it’ll be a busy couple of days for Trump as he’s due to host the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, today (February 27) before meeting Zelensky on Friday.