President Donald Trump said on Feb. 26 that he expects that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will have to make concessions to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as part of the final deal to bring an end to the fighting between their two countries.
Speaking with reporters at the White House on Feb. 26, Trump said that if not for his 2024 election victory, the Russia–Ukraine war would continue and Putin would seek to take all of Ukraine.
Trump said the Ukrainians have fought hard but that the war would have been over much sooner if it hadn’t been for the weapons and equipment the United States has supplied to Kyiv’s forces throughout the war.
When asked what concessions Ukraine would likely have to make, Trump said: “I don’t want to tell you right now, but I can tell you that NATO you can forget about.
“That’s been, I think—that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”
Russia has opposed Ukrainian membership in the NATO.
Zelenskyy has sought a range of security guarantees from his various foreign backers, including Ukrainian membership in the NATO alliance, but the Trump administration has already signaled its opposition to the idea.
Earlier in his White House comments on Feb. 26, Trump announced that Zelenskyy would visit the White House on Feb. 28 to finalize a deal in which the United States would gain access to Ukrainian natural resources such as rare earth minerals as compensation for past and potential future U.S. support for Ukraine.
Although Trump said Zelenskyy is ready to sign the deal for Ukraine’s natural resources, Zelenskyy has continued to voice his reservations about the agreement.
“I wanted to have a sentence on security guarantees for Ukraine, and it’s important that it’s there,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, on Feb. 26, said the Ukrainian government will authorize a draft agreement for the country’s natural resources later that day.
Shmyhal said this draft deal would see Ukraine contribute 50 percent of “all proceeds received from the future monetization of all relevant state-owned natural resource assets and relevant infrastructure.”
He said, “Existing deposits, facilities, licenses, and rents are not subject to discussion when creating this fund.”
Shmyhal said the proceeds that do fall under this arrangement will go into a fund under the joint control of the United States and Ukraine.
The Ukrainian prime minister described the draft deal as a preliminary agreement that Ukraine seeks to tie to U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine.
As Trump spoke with reporters later on Feb. 26, he insisted that the deal he is prepared to enter into for Ukraine’s natural resources will benefit the embattled country.
As Trump spoke with reporters later on Feb. 26, he said the deal he has in mind for Ukraine’s natural resources will benefit the embattled country.
“It’s a great deal for Ukraine too, because they get us over there, we’re going to be working over there,” Trump said. “We'll be on the land. And you know, that way there’s sort of automatic security, because nobody’s going to be messing around with our people when we’re there.”
Zelenskyy remains adamant about receiving firm security guarantees from his foreign backers as part of any final peace settlement. Meanwhile, Russia remains wary of some of the security guarantees that have already been discussed, such as deployments of European peacekeeping forces to Ukraine to help enforce the final settlement.
Trump said earlier this week that he spoke with Putin about having European peacekeepers in Ukraine and said the Russian leader “has no problem with it.”
