Trump announces upcoming talks with Zelensky

US President Donald Trump has announced that he plans to talk with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky in the near future. He has also confirmed that a minerals agreement between Washington and Kiev had been ratified by the Ukrainian parliament. 

“We just concluded the rare earth deal with Ukraine,” Trump told journalists in the White House on Thursday. “We appreciate that and I’ll be speaking with [Zelensky] in a little while,” he stated, without providing any further details about the date or the format for the upcoming talks.

The two last met at the Vatican in late April on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral. At that time, Zelensky allegedly tried to use the brief conversation to persuade Trump not to give up on his efforts to settle the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, according to The Economist.

Trump’s statement follows the Ukrainian parliament’s ratification of the comprehensive bilateral minerals agreement with the US. The deal was agreed upon last week after months of difficult negotiations. It envisages Washington and Kiev establishing a joint investment fund as well as giving the US preferential access to its partner’s natural resources.

The security guarantees which Zelensky’s government had long been demanding from the US were not part of the agreement, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal. 

On Thursday, Trump hailed the ratification by saying “we appreciate that.” According to the president, the US now has “access to a massive amount of very, very high-quality rare earths.”

In February, Reuters cited estimates from two Ukrainian think tanks stating that about 40% of the country’s metal resources are now under Russian control.

According to the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), between 50% and 100% of the lithium, tantalum, cesium, and strontium deposits claimed by Ukraine are located in territory currently controlled by Russia.