Trump Determined To 'Get The Money Back' In Potential Mineral Deal With Ukraine

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service February 23, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump on February 22 said he wants Ukraine to pay back the billions of dollars the United States sent to the country to help it defend against Russia's full-scale invasion.

"I want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up. We're asking for rare earth and oil -- anything we can get," Trump said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington. "I'm trying to get the money back or secured."

Trump made the comments amid negotiations between Washington and Kyiv on a deal that would involve the rights to Ukraine's mineral resources, including those used to make batteries for electric vehicles and other technology.

Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, traveled to Kyiv earlier this week and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying afterward that the Ukrainian president understood signing a deal with the U.S. was "critical." Kellogg also praised Zelenskyy as "courageous" after the visit.

Trump told supporters at the annual CPAC gathering that he thinks a deal can be reached.

"We're going to get our money back because it's just not fair," he said. "And we will see, but I think we're pretty close to a deal, and we better be close to a deal," Trump said.

A proposed deal reportedly would grant the United States rights to Ukraine's rare earth minerals to make up for U.S. aid given to Kyiv. Zelenskyy reportedly balked at signing the initial deal, but reports on February 22 quoting unidentified Ukrainian officials said he is now seriously considering a revised version of the deal.

Some of the terms appear even tougher than those of the earlier draft, The New York Times reported on February 22. The latest proposal, which the newspaper said it had reviewed, calls for Ukraine to contribute revenue from its resources to a U.S.-held fund until the amount contributed reaches $500 billion, The New York Times said.

Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaker of Ukraine's parliament, told Ukrainian media that a group would begin working on the agreement on February 24 and that Ukraine wanted to receive specific security guarantees in exchange for access to its resources, the newspaper said.

Trump's diplomatic overtures toward Russia, including the possibility of a summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, have alarmed Ukraine and Europe over the possibility that the United States would sign a deal unfavorable to them.

The conflict has reached a critical stage just ahead of its third anniversary on February 24 and with Kyiv's forces slowly ceding ground on the front line.

The Russian Defense Ministry earlier on February 22 claimed the capture of Novolyubivka in the Luhansk region.

Russian troops also fired missiles at Kryviy Rih, according to Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. A man injured in the missile strike died in the hospital, and at least two other people were injured, including a 30-year-old woman, who was hospitalized in serious condition, Lysak said.

At least two people were killed and four injured in the city of Konstantinovka in Ukraine's Donetsk region. A search was under way for people who might be buried under the the rubble, said Donetsk regional Governor Vadim Filashkin. At least seven bombs were dropped on the city, according to local authorities.

The Ukrainian military's the Air Force Command said earlier that air alerthad been sounded in several regions of Ukraine due to the threat of Russian drones. In particular, the military recorded the movement of attack drones in the direction of Cherkasy and Kyiv.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and The New York Times

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-ukraine--russia- zelenskiy-zelenskyy-minerals/33324313.html

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Trump Determined To 'Get The Money Back' In Potential Mineral Deal With Ukraine