“As President Trump demonstrated by reading President Zelensky’s message at the joint session, the Ukrainians have made positive movement.”
Amid plans for officials from Ukraine and the US to meet this week for negotiations in Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump has reportedly told White House officials that he is looking for more than just the rare earth minerals deal between the US and Ukraine in order to continue aid as well as opening communications back up to share intelligence with them for the war.
Although Trump is in support of the mineral agreement, he wants Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to shift his stance on peace talks, including a willingness to make concessions, such as ceding territory to Russia, according to NBC News. He is also looking for Zelensky to move towards a new election in Ukraine, as the country is overdue, for there has not been one since the beginning of the war in 2022 due to martial law.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes told reporters, “As President Trump demonstrated by reading President Zelensky’s message at the joint session, the Ukrainians have made positive movement. With meetings in Saudi this coming week, we look forward to hearing more positive movement that will hopefully ultimately end this brutal war and bloodshed.”
After the US paused intelligence as well as aid going to Ukraine, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine, and since then, some Republicans are pressing the White House to resume intelligence and aid to the country. White House officials, however, have said that the US is still sharing intelligence needed for defense, just not for targeting Russia.
For the past three years, the US has supplied Ukraine with targeting information, satellite imagery, and signals intelligence. With the pressure from the US, some countries in the European Union have started to offer more support.
Zelensky has indicated that Ukraine is “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible,” which may help his case in the negotiations in Saudi Arabia. The Ukrainian president has also said that he wants to sign the mineral deal that was presented to him from the US without explicit security guarantees.
This comes after a tense meeting between both Trump and Zelensky at the White House, where the two argued over the terms of a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. At the time, Zelensky pushed for explicit security guarantees, while Trump pushed for the mineral deal.
