-
-
- Live
Trump says Zelenskyy ready for Russia talks, mineral deal
3 min
read
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told him Kyiv was ready for talks with Russia and the finalization of a US minerals deal, days after the pair’s explosive White House meeting.
The dramatic collapse of Kyiv and Washington’s wartime alliance has played out in the open since the televised dispute in the Oval Office last week, followed by Ukraine’s top ally suspending crucial military aid.
Zelenskyy has since sought to bring Trump back onside, posting on social media that their clash was “regrettable” and he wanted “to make things right.”
In his address to US Congress later on Tuesday, Trump read aloud from a letter he said he recently received from Zelenskyy, which matched the social media statement.
“The letter reads, ‘Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians,” Trump told US lawmakers in his first address since returning to office.
“We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence.’”
Addressing Congress, Trump added that, “regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time that is convenient for you.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has meanwhile offered to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“Tell Trump that I expect him here with Putin and Zelenskyy,” Lukashenko proposed to the three leaders in a video interview with US blogger Mario Nawfal, reported by state news agency Belta on Wednesday.
“We are going to sit down and calmly make an accord,” said Lukashenko, adding there had to be a deal with Zelenskyy “since a large part of Ukrainian society is with him.”
In the Oval Office on Friday, Vice President JD Vance accused Zelenskyy of being ungrateful for US assistance and Trump berated the wartime leader as not having “cards” to play.
Zelenskyy left without signing an agreement pushed by Trump for the United States to secure control over Ukrainian mineral resources.
While Trump was expected to use Tuesday’s speech to lay out a plan for the Ukraine war, he did not further detail how he envisages ending the grueling three-year conflict.
He did say he had engaged in “serious discussions with Russia.”
Trump’s rapprochement with Moscow and decision on Monday to halt military assistance to Kyiv has stunned allies.
Like Ukraine, the European Union has been excluded from US-Russian negotiations toward a potential truce, prompting fears any deal proposed would be on Moscow’s terms.
Moscow, which has hailed Trump’s decision to halt assistance to Ukraine as a “solution which could really push the Kyiv regime to a peace process,” said Wednesday news that Zelenskyy was ready for peace talks was “positive.”
The US pause impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.
Read more:
Trump takes victory lap in speech to Congress, Democrats protest
What to watch as Trump addresses a joint session of Congress
