Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference in Kyiv, February 23, 2025 (Gleb Garanich/AP)

EA on RTE: Macron, Europe, and Ukraine Face Trump in Washington

Tuesday’s Coverage: Macron Warns Trump Against “Surrender” Over Russia’s Invasion

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1705 GMT:

Contradicting a White House official who said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit on Friday might be cancelled (see 1705 GMT), Donald Trump said in televised remarks from a Cabinet meeting, “We’re doing very well with Russia-Ukraine. President Zelensky is going to be coming on Friday. It’s now confirmed, and we’re going to be signing an agreement.”

UPDATE 1556 GMT:

A draft of the minerals deal between Ukraine and the Trump Administration, dated Tuesday, does not have any specific US guarantees of Ukraine’s security.

Instead, the text generally “supports Ukraine’s effort to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace”.

The Kyiv Independent has published what it says is the final text, obtained from a Ukrainian source.

A clause in that version confirms, “The Government of the United States of America supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace.”

UPDATE 1445 GMT:

The Trump Administration may be backing out of a visit by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington on Friday.

A White House official said, “If the Ukrainian leader says the deal isn’t finalized, I don’t see why an invitation would make sense. There’s an expectation that his coming is to recognize a final position, and he is not at a final position in his own words in this new wording.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has pulled out of a meeting with European Union foreign policy head Kaja Kallas during her trip to the American capital.

UPDATE 1427 GMT:

Describing the minerals deal with the Trump Administration as a “framework”, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said no security guarantee has been agreed.

He said the success of the deal depends on Donald Trump: “If we don’t get security guarantees, we won’t have a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing.”

Zelensky explained that he will propose to Trump using Russia’s frozen assets for mining resources development, weapons purchase, and reconstruction.

The President said Ukraine and US teams are trying to arrange his visit to Washington on Friday, but nothing has been confirmed.

UPDATE 1418 GMT:

Ukrainian journalist Tetyana Kulyk was one of two people killed overnight by a Russian drone strike on her house in the Kyiv region.

It was reported earlier (see 0927 GMT) that one civilian was killed and two injured in Bucha, near Kyiv, when a two-story home was set alight by a drone.

The Donetsk region’s governor says five people have been killed by Russian strikes on Kostyantynivka.

UPDATE 1412 GMT:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has further demolished Donald Trump’s assertion that Vladimir Putin will accept European troops in Ukraine as part of a deal.

Speaking in Qatar, Lavrov said the peacekeeping proposals from the UK and France are “a deceit” aimed at pumping Ukraine full of more weapons, drawing Ukraine further into NATO’s sphere, and infringe on the rights of Russian-speakers in the country.

Lavrov announced a US-Russia meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday. He said the talks will focus on creating better conditions for Russian diplomats in the US and their American counterparts in Russia.

UPDATE 1404 GMT:

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says talks between US and Russian officials are being prepared, but there are no plans for Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump to speak by phone.

Trump had said that the second round of US-Russia talks would take place in Ridayh, Saudi Arabia yesterday. The Kremlin rebuffed the claim.

Peskov declined to comment on the Ukraine deal providing minerals to the Trump Administration in return for assistance.

UPDATE 1038 GMT:

During a Senate committee hearing, Donald Trump’s nominee for Deputy Defense Secretary, Stephen Feinberg, will not answer if Russia invaded Ukraine:

UPDATE 0937 GMT:

Using public sources such as obituaries and funeral accounts and reporting by other outlets, the independent Russian site Moscow Times estimates that around 395,000 troops and civilians have been killed during Russia’s three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

BBC Russian Service and Mediazon have identified around 95,000 Russian soldiers who have been killed in Ukraine. However, they estimate that the real figure is likely to be nearer 150,000 to 200,000 because of bodies left on the battlefield or placed in unrecorded graves.

Figures had not been published for the Russian proxy “Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples’ Republics” but estimates put the number of slain fighters at more than 20,000 by the end of September 2024.

Two Ukrainian projects estimate losses among Ukraine’s armed forces of Ukraine of around 70,000 killed and more than 100,000 wounded.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights assessed on January 31 say that almost 13,000 Ukrainian civilians have died with more than 31,000 wounded.

UPDATE 0927 GMT:

One civilian has been killed and two injured by a Russian drone attack on Bucha, near Kyiv.

The victim’s body was discovered as firefighters extinguished a blaze in a two-story private home.

Five houses sustained damage.

Air defenses downed 110 of 177 drones launched by Russia on 10 regions overnight. Another 66 were lost to electronic counter-measures.

UPDATE 0720 GMT:

The mayor of the embattled city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine has appealed to President Volodymyr Zelensky to end fighting in the area.

Russia has tried for months to overrun Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region.

Mayor Ruslan Trebushkin posted a video message to Zelensky on Facebook, saying in Russian:

Volodymyr Aleksandrovich, the residents of the Pokrovsk community want peace. The majority of the residents of Ukraine want peace. People do not want to fight, they are tired.

Volodymyr Aleksandrovich, we believe in you. Make peace and let the people live.

The military administration of Pokrovsk responded that, during martial law ,the mayor “is in official downtime”. It said the military leadership “is doing everything possible to bring victory closer and supports the President and Government of Ukraine in their quest for a speedy peace”.

“We have no right to make concessions to irresponsible political suggestions, to be cowardly and to cherish despondency,” the administration emphasized, calling on residents “not to succumb to manipulation”.

UPDATE 0706 GMT:

Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed that the goal of his three-year invasion is to remove the Zelensky Government.

In an interview with State journalist Pavel Zarubin on Tuesday, Putin proclaimed that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was “corrupting the regime with which we are in an armed conflict”.

From the point of view of increasing Ukrainian statehood, it is necessary to act energetically…to bring to power people who will enjoy the trust of the people of Ukraine.

UPDATE 0659 GMT:

Officials at the US State Department are requesting exemptions to the Trump Administration’s freeze on foreign aid so funds are freed up for Ukraine.

The Administration imposed a 90-day suspension of almost all foreign aid projects when Trump took office on January 20, affecting humanitarian aid and reconstruction programs in Ukraine.

Senior State Department officials are putting together a list of exemptions for Ukraine beyond the waiver for “life-saving” programs. They would allow Ukraine to receive money for demining, narcotics control, and civil society projects.

waivers cannot be granted for any initiatives supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The State Department said, “Programs that serve our nation’s interests will continue. However, programs that aren’t aligned with our national interest will not.”

UPDATE 0647 GMT:

Donald Trump says Russian oligarchs can apply for a “gold card,” a $5 million path to US residency and citizenship.

Trump announced the scheme to attract “people of wealth” to the US while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday: “We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million and that’s going to give you green card privileges, plus it’s going to be a route to citizenship.”

Asked if Russian oligarchs would be eligible, Trump replied, “”Yeah, possibly. Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.”

He said that while the oligarchs are “not quite as wealthy as they used to be”, “I think they can afford $5 million.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine has reached an agreement with the US over Donald Trump’s demand for minerals in return for American assistance against Russia’s three-year invasion.

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister, told the Financial Times on Tuesday of the completed negotiations. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office then confirmed the information to the Kyiv Independent, and a US official told the New York Times of the agreement.

Zelensky is expected to head to Washington for a signing ceremony on Friday.

Ukrainian officials said they secured more favorable terms than the initial demands of the Trump camp. Significantly, US officials dropped Trump’s insistence on a right to $500 billion in potential revenue.

The initial US proposal gave the Trump Administration 100% financial interest in the fund. Zelensky rejected the provision, “I am not signing something that 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to repay.”

The Administration had also demanded that Ukraine pay back the US twice the amount of any future assistance.

Kyiv: Deal “Only Part of the Picture”

Ukraine framed the deal as a way to strengthen ties with the US.

“The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture,” said Stefanishyna.

The agreement establishes a fund to which Ukraine will contribute 50% of proceeds from the “future monetization” of State-owned mineral resources, including oil, gas, and related logistics. The fund will then invest in projects within Ukraine.

The deal excludes resources that already contribute to Ukraine’s state budget, such as operations by Naftogaz and Ukrnafta, the country’s largest oil and gas producers.

However, the agreement does not include security guarantees from the US, which Kyiv had said were essential. It also leaves the size of the US stake in the fund and the terms of “joint ownership” to be confirmed in follow-up agreements.

A Ukrainian official said of Zelensky’s trip to Washington, “This will be a chance for the president to discuss what the bigger picture is. And then after it, we will be able to think of the next steps.”

Asked by reporters what Ukraine would receive in the deal, Trump said: “$350 billion, military equipment and the right to fight on.”

Beyond that, he was vague, rambling:

I hear that [Zelensky is] coming on Friday. Certainly it’s OK with me if he’d like to. And he would like to sign it together with me. And I understand that’s a big deal, very big deal….

We’ve pretty much negotiated our deal on earth and various other things. We’ll be looking…general security for Ukraine later on. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.

There are a lot of people that want to do it, and I spoke with Russia about it. They didn’t seem to have a problem with it. So I think they understand they’re not going back. And once we do this, they’re not going back.