A meeting last week that was to culminate in a major pact on Ukrainian minerals instead ended in scandal
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has offered to sign a rare earths deal with the US following a disastrous meeting at the White House last week which scuttled the agreement. However, he did not apologize as demanded by some American officials.
Zelensky and US President Donald Trump have feuded over a potential ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict, security guarantees, and the minerals deal for weeks. Last Friday, the process culminated in a shouting match between the Ukrainian leader, Trump, and Vice President J.D. Vance in the Oval Office.
“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be,” Zelensky wrote in an X post on Tuesday.
“It is time to make things right,” he said, adding that “Ukraine is ready to sign [the agreement on minerals] in any time and in any convenient format.”
Kiev is ready to work towards a swift end to the conflict, beginning with an immediate prisoner release, and an immediate ceasefire with a “ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure,” Zelensky said.
He called last week’s altercation “regrettable,” but did not apologize.
The minerals deal is off the table until the Ukrainian leader makes a formal public apology, Fox News reported on Monday, citing a senior US official.
The Ukrainian leader refused to directly apologize for the contentious White House meeting when pressed by Bret Baier of Fox in an interview shortly thereafter.
The day of the scandalous meeting, Trump told reporters that Zelensky needed to be ready for an immediate ceasefire before would be welcomed back.
In the meantime, Washington has suspended all US military aid to Ukraine, multiple outlets reported on Monday, citing an anonymous White House official.
“We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a [peaceful] solution,” the statement reportedly said.
A stop to the flow of US armaments to Ukraine would “probably be the best contribution to the cause of peace,” given Washington’s position as its biggest military backer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
Moscow has repeatedly stressed its openness to ceasefire talks, and that Kiev banned negotiations early on in the conflict. Russia demands that Ukraine demilitarize, denazify, stay neutral and recognize the territorial “realities on the ground.” Moscow has also stressed that it is opposed to any NATO presence in Ukraine, including under the guise of peacekeepers from the US-led military bloc’s member states.
