Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his continued support for a mineral extraction deal with the United States on Friday, hours after a contentious Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance spiraled into a public spat.
Appearing on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Zelenskyy insisted the agreement should move forward, despite the dramatic fallout that saw Trump accuse him of disrespect and effectively halt the signing scheduled for that day.
The Oval Office gathering, intended to finalize a deal granting the U.S. access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, unraveled when Zelenskyy criticized the U.S. for not doing more to counter Russia’s aggression.
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Trump and Vance rebuked him, with Trump later issuing a stark ultimatum: accept a ceasefire or lose American support. The exchange, witnessed by reporters, ended with Zelenskyy’s abrupt exit and the White House scrapping plans for a joint press conference and signing ceremony.
Yet, speaking to Baier, Zelenskyy struck a conciliatory tone, emphasizing his desire to see the deal through. “United States wanted this deal very much, and we’ve been not against this deal, but we wanted to understand what parts in security guarantees will take this deal and what next steps,” he said. “Just again, to understand for our people, during the war, what you don’t like, even sometimes hate? Surprises.” He acknowledged the war’s toll, adding, “It’s understandable. Many terrible things this war brought to us. So we don’t want any surprises.”
Zelenskyy stressed that the agreement, hammered out over weeks by both nations’ teams, was ready for signatures. “I think this deal was prepared by teams. It was not simple during [the] weeks, and now it’s ready,” he said. “The countries have to sign. The ministers have to sign. That’s it. I don’t know when they will do it. It depends on the American side.”
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The deal’s trajectory had seemed certain earlier in the week. Multiple sources confirmed Tuesday that the U.S. and Ukraine had settled on a framework for joint mineral development, a pact Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hailed Thursday on Fox News as a “win-win” set for a Friday signing. But the Oval Office clash upended those plans. Reagan Reese, Daily Caller’s White House correspondent, reported the administration’s post-meeting stance: “Nothing will be signed.”
Pressed by Baier on whether the deal included security provisions—a sticking point for Kyiv—Zelenskyy called them part of the “infrastructure” but offered a nuanced critique. He recounted telling Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not be trusted to honor mineral-rich territories as off-limits. “I said to him that we had more than 20 companies, American companies, big companies on the territory of Ukraine … For Putin, it doesn’t matter,” Zelenskyy said. “He just came and occupied it.” While praising the deal’s potential to boost jobs and ties between the nations, he cautioned, “This will not save us.”
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Trump, meanwhile, took to Truth Social after Zelenskyy’s departure, lambasting the Ukrainian leader’s stance. “I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,” Trump wrote. “I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
The flare-up has thrown U.S.-Ukraine relations into flux at a critical juncture in the Russia-Ukraine war. Zelenskyy’s insistence on security guarantees—beyond the economic benefits of mineral extraction—clashes with Trump’s push for a rapid ceasefire, revealing a rift that could reshape American support for Kyiv. For now, the mineral deal hangs in limbo, its fate hinging on whether both sides can reconcile their starkly divergent priorities.
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