Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday, at a pivotal moment for his country.
During his trip, Zelenskyy’s delegation is expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the US, aimed at financing the reconstruction of Ukraine after three years of war with Russia.
While the deal references the importance of Ukraine’s security, it leaves that to a separate agreement which will be discussed by the two leaders on Friday. Zelenskyy will be hoping to persuade Trump to provide some form of US backing for Ukraine’s security against any future Russian aggression.
But many Ukrainians fear that a hastily negotiated peace, especially one that makes too many concessions for Russia, would allow Moscow to rearm and consolidate its forces for a future invasion.
Reports say that the deal between the US and Ukraine would establish a co-owned, jointly managed investment fund to which Ukraine would contribute 50% of future revenues from natural resources, including mineral, hydrocarbons, and other extractable materials.
A more detailed agreement on establishing the fund will be drawn up once the preliminary one is signed.
Trump has framed the deal as a chance for Kyiv to compensate the US for wartime aid sent under former President Joe Biden.
Chairing his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday, President Trump said his administration will be “making a deal where we are going to get our money back, and a lot of money in the future.”
“The deal brings us great wealth. We get the money back we spent, and we hope we’ll be able to settle [the war] up. We want to settle it.”
But Zelenskyy has stressed that specific assurances for Ukraine’s security must accompany any agreement giving the US access to Ukraine’s resources.
On Wednesday, he said the agreement “may be part of future security guarantees, but I want to understand the broader vision. What awaits Ukraine?”
But Trump remains noncommittal about any American security guarantees.
“I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much,” he said on Wednesday, “We’re going to get Europe to do that. It’s their next-door neighbour.”
If a truce can be reached, the UK and France have agreed to send troops for a potential peacekeeping mission to Ukraine, to ensure fighting does not flare up again.
Both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Washington this week before Zelenskyy, to discuss their concerns about the war with President Trump.
But Starmer and other European leaders have called for a US backstop for European forces on the ground, providing support through US aerial intelligence, surveillance and support, as well as rapid-response cover in case the truce is breached.
“You’ve created a moment of tremendous opportunity to reach a historic peace deal – a deal that I think would be celebrated in Ukraine and around the world,” Starmer told Trump at their meeting on Thursday.
“That is the prize. But we have to get it right,” he said.
Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump, their first since the US leader’s inauguration in January, is seen in Kyiv as a diplomatic win to Ukraine. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy said being able to meet personally with Trump before Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a good signal”.
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