Olusegun Ariyo
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine will on Friday meet with US President Donald Trump and sign a critical minerals deal as Kyiv works to regain US support to fight off the Russian invasion as Washington reverses its punitive policy towards Moscow.
Zelenskyy is facing a sharply different attitude from Trump.
Trump has said he wants to quickly wind down the three-year war, improve relations with Moscow and recoup US money spent to support Ukraine.
He has also adopted a much less committed stance toward European security, to which the US has been an indispensable partner since the Second World War.
The change in tone from the United States has shocked Europe and stoked fears that Kyiv could be forced into a peace deal that favors Russia.
Urban Express News Online gathered that the minerals agreement negotiated in recent days would open up Ukraine’s large mineral wealth to the United States but does not include American security guarantees, a disappointment for Ukraine.
A Center for Strategic and International Studies report last year found that about two-thirds of the money Congress appropriated for Ukraine was spent in the United States.
Recall that Trump has engaged in a long-distance feud with Zelenskiy in recent weeks, criticizing his handling of the war, calling him a dictator and urging him to agree to the minerals deal.
However, at a joint news conference with visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, Trump denied making the statement.
“Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that,” he said.
The US president also explained that he looks forward to meeting Zelenskiy and praised the Ukrainian military for its bravery.
