WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Voldy Mirzelensky met President Donald Trump on Friday at a pivotal moment for his country.
Zelenskyy gave a thumbs up, but did not speak to reporters when he arrived at the White House. He wore a more formal black top, rather than a regular military green t-shirt, urging Trump to stop him by saying, “He's all dressed up.”
The Zelenskyy delegation is expected to sign a groundbreaking economic agreement with the United States aimed at funding the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine.
The deal is seen as a step towards ending a three-year war, and refers to the importance of Ukraine's security. But that remains in another agreement that is still being stolen by the two leaders.
Meeting together in the oval office, Trump said the agreement would soon be signed in the Eastern Room of the White House.
“We have something that has very fair dealings,” Trump said. “It's a huge commitment from the US,” he added.
He added that the US wants to see the killings in the war stopped, and that US money for Ukraine should “be placed in different kinds of uses, like reconstruction.”
Zelensky called Russian President Vladimir Putin a terrorist and told Trump that Ukraine and the world “there is no compromise with the murderer.”
“Even during the war, there are rules,” he said.
As Ukrainian forces oppose the slow and steady progress made by Russia's large, well-equipped troops, Kiev leaders pushed the potential peace plan mediating the US to include guarantees of the country's future security.
Many Ukrainians fear that a hastily negotiated peace, especially one that makes too many concessions to Russia's demands, will allow Moscow to arrange and integrate its forces for future invasions after the current hostilities have ended.
According to the Associated Press' Preliminary Economic Agreement, the US and Ukraine will establish a jointly owned, co-managed investment fund in which Ukraine will donate 50% of future revenues from natural resources that include minerals, hydrocarbons and other extractable materials.
Speaking about the Rare Earth Agreement, Trump said the US lacks many such minerals while Ukraine has the best on the planet. He said US interests are planning to receive these reserves and use them on everything from manipulation of artificial intelligence to military weapons.
Asked about long-term security guarantees to protect against future Russian invasions, Trump said when the agreement was signed that there was unlikely to be a return to combat.
Republican Trump has framed the emerging agreement as an opportunity to compensate the United States for wartime aid sent under his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden.
However, Zelenskyy remains firmly established that certain assurances for Ukrainian security must come with an agreement to provide access to Ukrainian resources. On Wednesday, he replied that such an agreement “may be part of future security guarantees, but I want to understand the broader vision. What awaits Ukraine?”
But Trump remains uncommitted about American safety guarantees.
“I'm not going to provide security guarantees… not much,” Trump told reporters this week. “We're going to let Europe do that.”
This is Zelenskyy's fifth White House visit, but the four before him came during the Biden administration. The Ukrainian president met with the US Senator during his time in Washington.
Once a ceasefire can be reached, British Prime Minister Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to send troops for a potential peacekeeping mission to Ukraine to ensure that the fighting between Ukraine and Russia will rekindle. Both leaders traveled to Washington prior to their Zelensky visit to discuss potential peacekeeping missions and other concerns with Trump.
White House officials are skeptical that Britain and France can gather enough troops from across Europe, at least at this time, to deploy a reliable peacekeeping mission in Kiev, at least for now.
According to senior Trump administration officials who explained to reporters about the terms of anonymity under the ground rules set by the White House, it is likely that a “consensual peace” will occur between Russia and Ukraine before many countries provide such power.
Zelensky and European officials have no illusions about the US military taking part in such a mission. However, priorities and others are trying to argue that the plan can only cooperate with the US backstop for US European troops through US aerial intelligence, surveillance, support and quick response coverage if the truce is violated.
“You created a moment of incredible opportunity to reach a historic peace agreement, a deal you think will be celebrated in Ukraine and around the world,” Starmer told Trump.
Zelenskyy vaguely explains exactly what security guarantees are suitable for his country, suggesting that similar security arrangements will be sufficient while continuing to defend Ukraine's final membership in NATO.
But Trump said this week that Ukraine could “forget” join the Western Military Alliance.
Still, Zelensky's encounter with Trump is considered a diplomatic victory for Ukraine in Kiev. On Wednesday, Zelensky said Putin could personally meet with Trump before it was “a good signal.”
A reporter for Russian news agency TASS was to join other reporters in the oval office when Trump and Zelensky met.
The fear that Trump could mediate a peace deal with Russia, which is disadvantaged by Ukraine, has been amplified by his administration's actions that destroy recent precedents. Trump made a long phone call with Putin, and US officials met with Saudi Russian counterparts without inviting European or Ukrainian leaders.
Trump later appeared to be wrongly responsible for starting the war, and although Ukrainian law bans elections while martial law is in place, he called Zelensky a “dictator” because he didn't hold elections after the end of his regular term last year.
While Zelenskyy is trying to lower temperatures in the United States, American officials in Washington say that the economic deal itself provides Ukraine a measure of security through the presence of US investment in its territory.
Trump calls the US access to Ukraine's rare earth.
That perspective is reflected by the text of the economic agreement, which states that the United States “supports Ukrainian efforts to obtain the security guarantees necessary to establish lasting peace.”
Washington continues to have a “long-term financial commitment to the development of stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.”
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Spikes were reported from Kiev, Ukraine. Aaamer Madhani contributed.
