White House national security adviser Mike Waltz on Friday said Ukrainian President Voldymi Zelensky was pressing for a mineral agreement with the US as part of broader negotiations to end the war with Russia. He said it was expected to be.
“This is the bottom line. President Zelensky is going to sign that deal. We’ll see it in the very short term,” Waltz said in a statement at the Conservative Political Action Council (CPAC). Ta.
The statement comes amid increasingly a public dispute between Zelensky and Donald Trump, and this week the Waltz must “adjust it” and sign the proposed agreement by Ukrainian leaders. he told Fox News.
The proposed partnership will provide the US with access to Ukrainian sediments of key minerals such as aluminum, gallium and titanium, Waltz said. According to Waltz, the so-called agreement is positioned as a way for American taxpayers to recover some of their investments in Ukraine’s defense, with US aid to Ukraine exceeding $1750 billion.
Waltz showed that interest in the trade was first broached last September as part of his “winning plan” seeking US investment, but Ukraine’s rare earth mineral resources It is not clear whether the idea was developed mainly in the US, which is developing the book.
Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent presented Zelenkie with a draft proposal for the plan, with Ukraine providing the US with roughly $500 million worth of rare earth elements.
The heightened tensions worsened when Ukraine was removed from US-Russia talks this week in Saudi Arabia. Zelensky’s subsequent criticism sparked a sharp responsibilities from Trump for making unfounded claims that the Ukrainian leader had “started” the war. Zelenskyy responded by accusing Trump of being caught up in the “false information bubble.” Trump called the Ukrainian leader a dictator.
Still, Waltz, who recently returned from Saudi Arabia to meet Russian officials, said negotiations are underway to end the conflict. He argued that Putin and Zelensky believe Trump’s leadership is important to the peace process, and that both of them “can end this war.”
National security advisers are also increasingly familiar with European allies’ financial support to Ukraine, with European contributions primarily in the form of loans, often repaid through profits on frozen Russian assets, and the US He pointed out that the aid was direct funding.
The Trump administration’s push to sign a mineral agreement to strengthen diplomatic engagement with European leaders is set to visit Washington on Monday, with the UK on Friday He said he plans to visit Prime Minister Kiel Starmer.
The White House’s aggressive stance on the peace agreement came when the third day of the CPAC, held outside of Washington, was ongoing. The widely-accompanied conservative meeting already featured a high-profile speech from former White House strategist Steve Bannon and high-tech billionaire Elon Musk JD Vance, who said on Saturday. It is scheduled to be the finale.
The meeting is not without controversy. French far-right leader Jordan Bardera canceled a speech scheduled for Friday morning, and a former Trump aide gave a speech on Thursday with a shot-out stretched arm gesture similar to a Nazi-style salute. After finishing, I cited Bannon’s “implications for Nazi ideology.”
Vance marks the Trump administration’s month using his previous CPAC appearance, bringing his controversy about “uninvasive foreign immigrants,” the biggest threat facing Europe and the US. We’ve doubled the claims that are brewed. Because the All-Out War killed more Europeans in Ukraine than any other conflict in more than a century.
Trump elaborated on Zelensky’s position on peace negotiations in a Fox News radio interview with Brian Kilmeade on Friday morning, saying, “He doesn’t think it’s very important to attend the meeting.” I said.
He said he regretted Bescent’s recent trip to Ukraine and negotiated a rare earth mineral proposal. It was a useless trip. ”
Trump has rejected Zelensky’s complaints that he was excluded from peace talks.
“He’s been at a meeting for three years with the president who didn’t know what he was doing. He’s been at the meeting for three years and did nothing.”
This article was revised on February 21, 2025. Titanium is not tritium, but one of the minerals in Ukrainian deposits.
