President Donald Trump’s administration and Ukraine plan to sign the much-debated minerals deal following his disastrous Oval Office meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump has told his advisers that he wants to announce the agreement in his address to Congress Tuesday evening, according to three sources.
They cautioned that the deal had yet to be signed and the situation could change.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ukraine’s presidential administration in Kyiv and the Ukrainian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The deal, if salvaged, would mark a stunning turnaround from Friday, when Trump held an angry Oval Office meeting with Zelensky and Vice President JD Vance, with Trump questioning whether Zelensky wanted peace and Vance repeatedly urging him to say ‘thank you.’
It resulted in the Ukrainian leader’s swift departure from the White House before a planned luncheon and press conference.
Zelensky had traveled to Washington to sign the deal.
Donald Trump may announce the deal to Congress
‘You’re gambling with World War III,’ Trump lectured during the meeting.
The blowup threatened to throw the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, and on Monday the Trump administration suspended U.S. military support for the embattled nation.
European leaders huddled over the weekend to explore ways to try to fill Kiev’s need for arms and funds. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said a ‘coalition of the willing’ would forge ahead, but there were serious concerns about Ukraine’s path forward without U.S. support.
U.S. officials have in recent days spoken to officials in Kyiv about signing the minerals deal despite Friday’s blow-up.
They urged Zelensky’s advisers to convince the Ukrainian president to apologize openly to Trump, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
President Donald Trump greets President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, Friday, February 28, 2025
On Tuesday, Zelensky posted on X that Ukraine was ready to sign the deal and called the Oval Office meeting ‘regrettable.’
He wrote: ‘Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.’
It was unclear if the deal has changed.
The deal that was to be signed last week included no explicit security guarantees for Ukraine but gave the U.S. access to revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources.
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