President Donald Trump will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday for their first meeting since the United States began direct negotiations with Russia to secure an agreement that would end the yearslong war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy’s visit is expected to focus in large part on a potential U.S.-Ukraine deal on the European country’s rare-earth minerals, which are used to make a variety of tech products.
Trump previewed the visit during a gathering of his Cabinet members Wednesday, signaling the two countries had made progress on an agreement that would grant the U.S. a significant ownership stake in Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals as a form of repayment for Washington’s continued support of Kyiv since Russia invaded in February 2022.
“We’re going to be signing an agreement, which will be a very big agreement,” Trump said.
Zelenskyy last met with Trump in December, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, ahead of an event celebrating the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Months earlier, the two met in New York. The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington said that was where Zelenskyy first presented Trump a “Victory Plan” that included the exchange of the country’s “natural resources and critical metals.”
Credit: NBC News