Zelenskyy Says He Still Wants To Sign Mineral Deal With US After Oval Office Spat With Trump

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 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.