US President Donald Trump accused the Ukrainian president of “trying to back out” of the minerals deal expected to be agreed between the two countries as early as this week, adding that Volodymyr Zelensky would face “big problems” if he didn’t sign an agreement. But Ukraine has highlighted that the conditions of the deal changed significantly in recent days, reports CNN.
“I see he’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal. And if he does that, he’s got some problems. Big, big problems,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force Once on Sunday. “We made a deal on rare earth and now he’s saying, ‘well, you know, I want to renegotiate the deal.’”
“He wants to be a member of NATO. Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO. He understands that. So if he’s looking to renegotiate the deal, he’s got big problems,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, Zelensky said last week that the conditions of the deal being negotiated are “constantly changing,” but overall, Ukraine feels positively toward a future agreement.
The Ukrainian president said last Thursday that the two countries had already agreed to a “framework agreement” and then a full agreement would be hashed out later, involving more research and ratification in the Ukrainian parliament. But then the US-side changed its position to put forward “a full agreement right away,” Zelensky said.
Under the overflight of a Gendarmerie helicopter, the assault column of the First Marine Infantry Regiment advances during the Balerit joint and combined military exercise at Angouleme in the Charente department in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region of western France, on March 26, 2025. (Photo by Romuald Goudeau / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by ROMUALD GOUDEAU/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
“So it’s too early to talk about the agreement, which has been changed several times. But I would not want the US to have a feeling that Ukraine is against it in general,” Zelensky said. “We have consistently shown our positive signals. We are for cooperation with the United States.”
But it has been revived in the form of a new proposal for a natural resources agreement, which would give the US more access to Kyiv’s rare earth minerals, according to two people familiar with the discussions and a copy of the draft proposal obtained by CNN on Thursday.
The new proposal, put forward by the US Treasury Department, goes well beyond the initial draft agreement.
It does not, however, include language regarding one of Ukraine’s priorities — concrete security guarantees in the country’s ongoing war with Russia.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
