Washington: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived on a US visit. His flight has reached Base Andrews. The Ukrainian President is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Friday.
Trump claims that the ‘trillion-dollar deal’ he is about to make with Zelensky will easily provide America with a treasure trove of rare minerals. But current and former US officials say there is little evidence of rare minerals and other mineral wealth in Ukraine and whatever is there, it will be difficult, even impossible, to extract it in the eastern war-torn region.
According to Trump, this deal will be beneficial for the American taxpayer as it will compensate for the billions of dollars spent in aiding Ukraine. However, American officials and experts are skeptical about this deal. They say that there is no concrete information about the presence of rare minerals in Ukraine. The existing data is old and is based on Soviet-era maps. Experts believe that the amount of minerals available in Ukraine is very low at the global level.
Zelensky gave the idea of this deal.
This idea was originally of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He visited the US last year and presented his ‘Victory Plan’. This plan called for continued US aid in exchange for giving the US access to Ukraine’s natural resources.
❗️Zelensky lands at Joint Base Andrews ahead of high-stakes DC visit
The defacto Ukrainian president is expected to meet with Trump in person on Friday. pic.twitter.com/CA4xkAI6AA
— RT (@RT_com) February 28, 2025
Where is the catch?
However, US officials did not consider this proposal realistic. They believe that no American company is keen to enter the mining business in Ukraine. Experts also say that most of Ukraine’s mineral reserves are in Russian-controlled areas, where reaching is dangerous and expensive. Overall, experts doubt whether Trump’s deal will be beneficial for America or not.
Trump expects a very good meeting
Trump said on the eve of their talks at the White House that he has “great respect” for the Ukrainian president. Asked if he would apologize for recently calling him a “dictator,” he said he couldn’t believe he said that. He also called Zelensky “very brave.” Trump was speaking after talks with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer about ending the war between Ukraine and Russia. He predicted a “very good meeting” with Zelensky on Friday, saying efforts to achieve peace were “moving quite quickly”.
