Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky enters White House to sign Trump’s minerals deal

Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived for a tense meeting today in Washington DC after Trump suggests he trusts Putin not to invade Ukraine again.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting with Donal Trump, in Washington DC to sign a critical minerals deal this afternoon, as Kyiv works to regain US backing against Russia’s invasion.

Mr Zelensky arrived at the White House after 4pm for talks with the US president aimed at securing a vital US financial interest in Ukraine, which Mr Trump has suggested could in itself deter future Russian aggression.

Having remained non-committal on providing a US peacekeeping force, and repeatedly insisting such a responsibility would fall to Europe alone, Mr Trump said of the minerals deal on Thursday: “I don’t think anybody is going to play around if we’re there [in Ukraine] with a lot of workers.”

While Mr Trump has launched a series of extraordinary attacks on Mr Zelensky in recent weeks, even branding him a “dictator” amid tension over bilateral US-Russian talks aimed at ending Moscow’s war, he struck a more conciliatory tone during a meeting with Britain’s prime minister Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday.

Asked about his “dictator” jibe, Mr Trump told reporters: “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that”, adding: “We have a lot of respect, I have a lot of respect for him.”

Zelensky enters White House for crucial Trump meeting

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has just been greeted on the White House doorstep by US president Donald Trump.

It is unclear how well Mr Zelensky will be received, with the US president having described him as a “dictator” in a Truth Social rant just last week.

But Mr Trump, who rolled back on those comments during his meeting with British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer yesterday, is typically jovial and positive with other world leaders when he is with them in person – and leaves the heavy criticism to social media.

The central topic of talks will be the crucial minerals deal between Ukraine and the US, which is expected to be signed today and will establish the joint development of Ukraine’s mineral resources by Kyiv and Washington.

But the deal does not contain the critical security guarantees sought after by Mr Zelensky and Ukraine’s European allies, as efforts towards a peace settlement with Russia push forward.

Yesterday, Mr Trump said the minerals deal could act as a US “backstop” to guarantee Ukraine’s security, words later echoed by Sir Keir Starmer.

But both Sir Keir and French president Emmanuel Macron failed to push Mr Trump into committing to military security guarantees for Kyiv. The US president repeatedly said he wants first to focus on securing a peace deal, while members of his administration have said no US troops will be stationed in Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky will be looking for more than a minerals deal from the US president today, and the stage is set for one of the most consequential days of his leadership.