Friday 28 / February / 2025
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the White House, where he was greeted by his US counterpart Donald Trump.
The leaders will hold a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office, followed by lunch. Trump and Zelenskyy will then hold a press conference at around 1 p.m. local time (1900 GMT).
While in Washington, Zelenskyy's delegation is expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the United States. The deal is part of Trump's plan to end the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, but also to recoup some of the billions of dollars spent on military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the invasion in February 2022.
Zelenskyy hopes he can convince Trump to provide some form of US support for Ukraine's security against future Russian aggression.
What is the Ukraine minerals deal?
President Donald Trump says the deal is aimed at recouping some of the approximately $200 billion (depending on calculation – see DW's Fact Check) the United States has spent supporting Ukraine by securing access to profits from the extraction of rare earth metals.
Rare earth metals are minerals and elements such as lithium (used in batteries), lanthanum (used in camera lenses) and cerium (used in catalytic converters). Others including neodymium and praseodymium are in demand for magnets used in electric vehicle motors and wind turbines.
Ukraine estimates that its territory contains about 5% of the world's "critical raw materials" including 7% of Europe's titanium. Significant deposits of graphite, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, silver, manganese and cobalt are also present – albeit partly in eastern regions currently occupied by Russia.
Kyiv has long considered using its mineral wealth as a bargaining chip in return for continued US support in its ongoing defense against Russia's invasion – but the deal set to be signed on Friday reportedly does not include American military security guarantees.
Trump has suggested the very presence of American mining contractors in Ukraine will act as a deterrent to Russian aggression, but has said that any peacekeeping or peace enforcement operation will have to be led by European powers.
What minerals does Ukraine have and can they be extracted?
