President Trump will host President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on the White Home on Friday to seal an agreement handing over uncommon mineral rights to the US whilst the brand new American administration pursues a separate deal to finish Russia’s battle on Ukraine.
Whereas Mr. Trump has hosted a number of world leaders within the month since he took workplace once more, no assembly has been as charged because the one with Mr. Zelensky guarantees to be. Simply final week, Mr. Trump falsely asserted that Ukraine “started” the battle with Russia and referred to as Mr. Zelensky a “dictator without elections.”
In reality, it was Russia that began the battle in 2014 and mounted a full-scale invasion in 2022. Though Ukrainian elections have been suspended for the previous three years underneath martial legislation, Mr. Zelensky turned president on the again of a landslide election victory in 2019. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, in contrast, is an precise dictator whose elections have been broadly dismissed as frauds and who faces a global arrest warrant for battle crimes.
Mr. Trump sought to easy over the rift with Mr. Zelensky on Thursday earlier than their assembly on the White Home, disregarding a query about whether or not he nonetheless considers the Ukrainian chief a dictator.
“Did I say that?” Mr. Trump requested. “I can’t consider I mentioned that. Subsequent query.”
At a later information convention with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, Mr. Trump didn’t reply to a query about whether or not he owed Mr. Zelensky an apology for calling him a dictator. “We’re going to have an excellent assembly,” he mentioned. “I’ve plenty of respect for him.”
His sharp language final week about Mr. Zelensky contrasted together with his evaluation of Mr. Putin, whom he has only praised since profitable a second time period. Simply this week, the president referred to as Mr. Putin “a really sensible man” and “a very cunning person.” He mentioned that he believes that Mr. Putin actually needs peace and added on Thursday that “he’ll keep his word” if a deal is reached, regardless of a number of Russian violations of agreements prior to now.
Whereas he has spoken with Mr. Putin by phone, Mr. Trump has given little sense of how he expects to barter both a cease-fire or a permanent peace settlement. Throughout final yr’s marketing campaign, he promised to finish the battle inside 24 hours and to take action even earlier than his inauguration, neither of which he actually did.
Throughout Thursday’s information convention, Mr. Trump expressed a mixture of optimism and fatalism about his probabilities of making peace. “I believe it’s going to occur, hopefully shortly,” he mentioned. “If it doesn’t occur shortly, it might not occur in any respect.”
Mr. Starmer and different European leaders have provided to contribute troops to a multinational peacekeeping power on the bottom in Ukraine after the combating halts. However Mr. Trump resisted strain to commit U.S. forces to assist, even with out floor troops, or to supply safety ensures to Ukraine in opposition to renewed Russian aggression.
Since taking workplace, Mr. Trump has demanded that Ukraine flip over a few of its pure assets as payback for navy help supplied underneath President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to defend itself in opposition to Russia. Whereas Mr. Trump has falsely claimed that the US has contributed $350 billion and Europe solely $100 billion, actually, in response to the Kiel Institute for the World Economic system, Europe has allotted $138 billion in contrast with $119 billion from the US.
Underneath a draft of the uncommon minerals settlement reviewed by The New York Instances, Ukraine would contribute half of its revenues from the longer term monetization of pure assets, together with important minerals, oil and gasoline. Mr. Trump characterised the deal on Thursday as an financial improvement boon. “It’ll be good for each international locations,” he mentioned.
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