President Donald Trump is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, where the leaders are expected to discuss US efforts to end the war and potentially sign a minerals deal. The agreement would offer the US easy access to Kyiv’s untapped mineral riches in exchange for investment and what Ukraine hopes would be concrete security guarantees. The deal’s details remain murky but analysts say it could lead to broader peace negotiations.
Just days after calling Ukraine’s president a dictator, Trump softened his tone ahead of the meeting, telling reporters Thursday, “I have a lot of respect for him.” Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, as the European leaders looked to get security guarantees for Ukraine and tried to align themselves with Trump after they were cut out of US-Russia talks on ending the war.
