Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday on Fox News that he still wants to sign the mineral deal with the United States despite his public blowup at the Oval Office.
During a gathering in the Oval Office on Friday with President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other officials to discuss the U.S. deal with Ukraine over its minerals, Trump and Vance called out Zelenskyy’s behavior after he publicly criticized the U.S. for not attempting to halt Russia. Following the heated discussion, Zelenskyy appeared on “Special Report with Bret Baier” and told the host that he still believes the deal should be signed, adding he wanted to understand the security guarantees the U.S. would provide.
“United States wanted this deal very much, and we’ve been not against this deal, but we wanted to understand what parts in security guarantees will take this deal and what next steps. Just again, to understand for our people, during the war, what you don’t like, even sometimes hate? Surprises,” Zelenskyy said.
“It’s understandable. Many terrible things this war brought to us. So we don’t, we don’t want any surprises. Yes, that’s why we want to be very fair with our partners. I think this deal was prepared by teams. It was not simple during [the] weeks, and now it’s ready. I think that they have to sign. The countries have to sign. The ministers have to sign. That’s it. I don’t know when they will do it. It depends on the American side.”
Multiple sources on Tuesday said that the U.S. had struck a deal with Ukraine to jointly develop mineral extraction projects within the nation.
WATCH:
By Thursday, Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that “the deal is done,” adding it was a “win-win” for all parties and would be signed by Friday at the White House. However, following Zelenskyy’s clash with the president and vice president, the White House told Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese that “nothing will be signed.”
Baier went on to ask Zelenskyy if the deal did not include security provisions, to which the Ukrainian president said that it was part of the “infrastructure.” Zelenskyy further said that Trump had said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be able to enter certain mineral production territories. However, the Ukrainian president disagreed with the decision, saying he had told Trump not to “trust Putin.”
“I said to him that we had more than two, more than 20 companies, American companies, big companies on the territory of Ukraine. We had offices, even on temporarily occupied territories. For Putin, it doesn’t matter,” Zelenskyy said. “It’s a European company or Ukraine. It doesn’t matter. He just came and occupied it.”
“That’s what I said. I think this is a great idea [on] how to strengthen Ukraine and how to make business between two countries, how to make additional jobs for two countries. But it’s not just this will not save us,” Zelenskyy said.
After Zelenskyy left the White House, Trump took to Truth Social, posting that he had determined Zelenskyy is “not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.”
“I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace,” Trump wrote.
(Featured Image Media Credit:Â Screenshot/Fox News/”Special Report with Bret Baier”)
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
