President Trump Confirms President Zelensky Signs Mineral Agreement In Washington Tomorrow

President Donald Trump met President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Twitter @ZelenskyyUa)

JAKARTA - United States President Donald Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would visit Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on rare earth minerals.

Under the agreement, the Ukrainian Prime Minister referred to as "early," Kyiv would hand over some of its mineral resources to US-controlled funds.

President Trump said President Zelensky would sign an agreement on rare land and other topics during his visit, but hinted Washington would not provide broad security guarantees.

Kyiv has been seeking US security guarantees as part of the deal Trump set out as payment for US aid to Kyiv during the war. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

"I will not provide more security guarantees than that. We will ask Europe to do so," President Trump said, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, President Zelensky speaking in a late-night video address said his talks with Trump would emphasize the importance of obtaining security guarantees "to ensure Russia no longer destroys the lives of other countries", adding continued US assistance was essential.

"For me and all of us in the world, it is important that American aid is not stopped. Strength is needed on the way to peace," he said.

Yesterday, President Zelensky said the most important thing was that the current draft agreement does not describe Ukraine as a debtor who had to pay back hundreds of billions of dollars for his previous military aid.

"This agreement can be part of security guarantees in the future. Agreements are agreements, but we need to understand a wider vision," he said.

"This agreement can be a great success or can qualify in peace. And great success depends on our conversation with President Trump," he added.

President Zelensky said it would be a success if the US provided security guarantees for Ukraine, which wants protection from future Russian attacks if a peace agreement is reached.

A copy of the draft agreement, seen by Reuters and dated February 25, said: "The United States government supports Ukraine's efforts to obtain the necessary security guarantees to build lasting peace."

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Washington would be committed to supporting Kyiv's efforts to obtain security guarantees based on a finalized deal. America does not offer its own security promises.

PM Shmyhal said Ukraine gave its approval of agreed words so that they could be signed and described them as an "early" agreement.

"Setelah Presiden Ukraina dan Presiden AS menyetujui jaminan keamanan, menyetujui bagaimana kita menghubungkan perjanjian pertamatan ini dengan jaminan keamanan dari Amerika Serikat untuk negara kita, di hadapan (dua) presiden, seorang perwakilan pemerintah Ukraina akan menandatangani perjanjian pertama ini," katanya.

In comments aimed at calming Ukrainian concern, PM Shmyhal said Ukraine would never "sign or consider a colonial agreement that did not take state interests into account."

PM Shmyhal, who outlined the agreement in televised comments, said Kyiv would donate 50 percent of "all the proceeds received from the future monetization of all relevant state-owned natural resource assets and relevant infrastructure."

The proceeds will go into the fund under the joint control of the US-Ukraine, he said, adding there was no decision on the governance of the funds that could be taken without Kyiv's approval.

"Deposits, existing facilities, licenses, and leases are not the subject of discussion when making these funds," he added.

It is known, the deal is at the heart of Ukraine's efforts to gain strong support from President Trump as he seeks to end Russia's war quickly.

US-Russian talks that have so far excluded Kyiv and European allies will resume on Thursday.