TRANSCRIPT
The contours of a fiercely contested economic agreement between the United States and Ukraine are taking shape as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares to meet Donald Trump at the White House.
"He's going to be coming on Friday, that's now confirmed."
The deal could see Ukraine sign over control of billions of dollars in resource profits in exchange for US military support.
"We're going to be signing an agreement, which will be a very big agreement."
The deal centres on the exploitation of critical minerals - like lithium and titanium - as well as oil and gas.
But Mr Zelenskyy says Ukraine's endorsement of the agreement is contingent on security guarantees.
"I would really ask for at least an understanding that we all see that all this is part of future security guarantees. Therefore, even in the framework agreement, I really wanted at least a sentence to appear guaranteeing the security of Ukraine."
He says it is imperative support from the US does not stop now, or later.
The draft deal includes some language around the U-S supporting Ukraine's "efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace" but nothing concrete.
Mr Zelenskyy says he plans to question President Trump's plans for ongoing military aid, as well as whether Ukraine may be able to buy weapons directly from the US.
He also wants to know whether Ukraine can use frozen Russian assets for the purchase of weapons and investments and whether Washington plans to lift sanctions on Russia.
For his part, US President Donald Trump says he is seeking compensation for military aid made available during the Biden era.
"The previous administration put us in a very bad position, but we've been able to make a deal where we're going to get our money back and we're going to get a lot of money in the future. And I think that's appropriate because we have taxpayers that shouldn't be footing the bill, and they shouldn't be footing the bill at more than the Europeans are paying. So, it's all been worked out. We're happy about it."
President Zelenskyy says retrospective repayments are not on the table.
"The main thing for me was that we are not in debt. And regardless of what and where it sounds in the media, there is no debt of 500 billion, nor 350 billion, nor 100 billion, because it would not be fair to us. As I said before, there were no such agreements before, and therefore there is nothing to talk about from the point of view of this topic. It must be about something new."
Mr Zelenskyy says the framework agreed so far is a preliminary step towards a comprehensive package that will be subject to securing security guarantees for the future.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has outlined the key elements of this preliminary agreement, which Ukraine's government authorised to facilitate the presidents' meeting.
"This is a preliminary agreement that provides for further legal action, meaning the future creation of an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine, where both Ukraine and the United States will manage and fill up this fund on an equal footing."
He says representatives of the Ukrainian government will be in Washington to formally sign the preliminary agreement provided adequate security guarantees are confirmed.
This would then pave the way for the establishment of the joint fund.
"Future revenues received by Ukraine from rents or licences for minerals, from dividends on infrastructure facilities used for transportation or extraction of the relevant minerals... this will be Ukraine's contribution, 50 per cent of such revenues we will invest in this fund, jointly with the US, for the recovery of Ukraine."
Ahead of the meeting with Mr Zelenskyy, President Trump has repeated his resistance to the idea of Ukraine joining NATO, which has long been an aim of Ukraine.
"I can tell you that NATO, you can forget about. That's been I think that's probably the reason the whole thing started."
This is a key sticking point for Russia too.
Russia's government has consistently pinned the blame for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine to concerns over Ukraine's attempts to join NATO.
President Putin says he will not accept peacekeeping troops from NATO nations within Ukraine's borders, contradicting the assertions of Donald Trump.
It comes as European leaders increasingly signal their willingness to provide peacekeeping troops, while still calling for what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called a U-S 'backstop'.
Meanwhile, President Trump has abandoned efforts to isolate Russia, with officials from the two countries meeting today for talks on re-establishing their respective embassies.
Mr Trump also says he is interested in a rare earths deal with Russia, which currently controls large parts of Ukraine.
While the outcomes of the upcoming talks are uncertain, it will certainly affect the course of the war, as President Zelenskyy well knows.
"This deal can be a big success, or it can fade away quietly. Much success, I believe, depends on our conversation with President Trump."
