Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Reuters on Friday that he hopes to make a deal with President Donald Trump to bring an end to the war with Russia.
During his campaign for office, Trump vowed to bring peace to the world, as multiple foreign wars had been pushed during the Biden-Harris administration. In an interview with Reuters, Zelenskyy said he was open to making a deal with the U.S. regarding Trump’s request for Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in exchange for continued financial aid.
“These deposits are priceless, it is huge amounts of money, huge. That’s why we need to protect it,” Zelenskyy said. “If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it.”
The Russia-Ukraine war has lasted more than two years, with the Biden-Harris administration providing $175 billion in economic and military aid to Ukraine, but the conflict shows no signs of ending. Last year, Ukraine presented a “victory plan,” suggesting the idea of allowing allies to invest in its essential minerals, according to Reuters.
With Russian occupation controlling less than 20% of Ukraine’s mineral resources, including roughly half of its rare earth deposits, Zelenskyy told Reuters that Moscow could potentially strike deals with North Korea and Iran.
“We need to stop Putin and protect what we have — a very rich Dnipro region, central Ukraine,” Zelenskyy told the outlet.
Just days after his election, Trump warned Russian President Vladimir Putin not to escalate the war against Ukraine during a phone call, reportedly reminding him of the U.S.’s large presence in Europe. The call with Putin came after a conversation between Trump, Department of Government Efficiency’s Elon Musk and Zelensky, in which the Ukrainian president reportedly said he left the meeting feeling content.
“We will protect those trillions. We will prevent Russia from mining the minerals which will later be used to produce technologies for the three countries of the axis of evil. The Americans helped the most, and therefore the Americans should earn the most. And in rebuilding Ukraine, they should have this priority. And they will.”
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