Trump says Ukraine’s leaders ‘don’t have any cards’ in negotiations ⁰

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faced pressure on Friday to sign a deal to hand the United States preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral deposits following harsh criticism from US President Donald Trump.

Trump wants Ukraine to give US companies access as compensation for the tens of billions of dollars of aid delivered under his predecessor Joe Biden.

But Ukraine is seeking security guarantees from the United States in exchange for signing away precious rights to vast amounts of its natural resources and critical minerals.

Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, on Friday predicted that Zelensky would sign the deal soon.

“Look, here’s the bottom line, President Zelensky is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term, and that is good for Ukraine,” Waltz told a conference on the outskirts of Washington.

Forbes Ukraine in April 2023 estimated that Ukraine’s mineral resources amounted to 111 billion tonnes, worth $14.8 trillion – mostly coal and iron ore.

But more than 70 percent of these resources were in Donetsk and Luhansk – regions partly controlled by Russia – and Dnipropetrovsk, where Moscow’s forces are approaching.

Trump’s top advisers have doubled down on their attacks on Zelensky in recent days, after Trump branded him a “dictator” and falsely claimed Ukraine had “started” the war with Russia.

Elections have been suspended in Ukraine since Zelensky declared martial law following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The war of words has stunned Kyiv and European capitals, a sign of just how rapidly Trump is overhauling Washington’s long-standing support for Ukraine as he opens talks with Moscow on a settlement to the conflict.

Trump told a gathering of US governors at the White House he had “very good talks” with his Russian counterpart, while adding Ukrainian leaders “don’t have any cards, but they play it tough”.

A senior Ukrainian official earlier Friday told AFP that despite the tensions between Zelensky and Trump, talks on a possible agreement were “ongoing”.

“There is a constant exchange of drafts, we sent another one yesterday,” the Kyiv source said, adding that Ukraine was now waiting for a US response.

Kyiv had rejected a first attempt by Trump’s team to strike a deal for Ukraine’s natural resources, saying the proposal did not include security guarantees for Kyiv – a move that infuriated Trump.

Three-year war

Ukraine is pressing for NATO membership or for the deployment of Western troops and masses of advanced equipment as part of any wider ceasefire agreement with Russia.

Zelensky said earlier this week he would not “sell” Ukraine in any deal with the United States.

The spat risks undermining Western support for Kyiv at a critical juncture in the conflict, ahead of the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion on Sunday.

Russia’s army on Friday said it had captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine.

Europe has also been left scrambling to respond, though Zelensky has held a flurry of calls in recent days with European leaders reiterating their support for Ukraine, including French President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Finland and Denmark.

Macron will travel to Washington next week where he will tell Trump: “You can’t be weak with President Putin,” he said in an address on Thursday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will also visit Trump, as Paris and London seek to marshal Europe’s response to the Republican’s first month in office.

‘Despised’

Zelensky met this week in Kyiv with Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg whose description of meetings with Ukrainian officials came in stark contrast with rhetoric from his counterparts in Washington.

In a social media post Kellogg called Zelensky “the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war”.

Trump told Fox News on Friday that “I don’t think he’s very important to be in meetings”, referring to Zelensky, adding “he makes it very hard to make deals”.

Tech tycoon and Trump backer Elon Musk weighed in on Thursday, saying Ukrainians “despised” their president and that the US leader was right to leave him out of talks with Russia.

“Some of the rhetoric coming out of Kyiv, frankly, and insults to President Trump were unacceptable,” Waltz said during a briefing at the White House.

In his most pointed criticism yet, Zelensky earlier this week said Trump had succumbed to Russian “disinformation” over the US president’s repetition of debunked Kremlin talking points on the conflict.

Source:  AFP