Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in the US for a meeting with President Donald Trump to sign a much-anticipated security deal including Ukraine’s mineral resources after having a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
“Our discussions focused on the continued military assistance for Ukraine, relevant legislative initiatives, my meeting with President Trump, efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace, our vision for ending the war, and the importance of robust security guarantees” Zelensky said in an X post after the meeting with congresspeople.
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“We take pride in having strategic partners and friends like the United States,” he wrote. “We are grateful for the unwavering bicameral and bipartisan support for Ukraine throughout all three years of Russia’s full-scale aggression.”
Trump met Zelensky outside the White House, as is custom when a state dignitary visits the US, offering him a firm handshake and pat on the back before welcoming the Ukrainian leader into the building.
Zelensky traveled with his trusted chief-of-staff, Andriy Yermak – who uncharacteristically donned a business suit and tie – and Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov, who wore the typical olive-colored uniforms that have become associated with Ukraine’s war-time government.
The two leaders are expected to sign the agreement after a week of contradicting statements by officials from both governments over whether the meeting – or accord – would actually happen.
Zelensky landed in Washington on Thursday night, according to France24. Ukrainian officials reported that the pair is expected to hold a press conference at 1 pm EST on Friday.
The Ukrainian president met with American lawmakers in a bipartisan meeting before heading to the White House.
“Really good bipartisan meeting before President Zelensky heads to the White House,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) wrote on X alongside a photo with Zelensky. “We stand with Ukraine.”
Zelensky also met with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Chris Coons (D-Delaware), per the photo.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the White House on Thursday in an effort to sway Trump’s hardened stance on Ukraine, to seemingly little avail. He pushed back on the twice-impeached president for his recent warming-up to Russia and abandonment of Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron made the same trip a day earlier, leading to a “touchy” interaction when the Parisian politician corrected the New Yorker regarding the amount and type of aid that the US and Europe have given to support Ukraine.
Zelensky’s trip comes on the eve of Trump walking back comments he had made days earlier calling the Ukrainian president a “dictator” for not holding elections during the war – which is prohibited by the constitution of Ukraine.
Details of the bilateral security deal were shared earlier this week.
The agreement reportedly stipulates that Kyiv agrees to allocate 50% of future revenues generated from minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas, and other extractive materials to a joint US-Ukraine fund in the new minerals deal with the US.
Although Zelensky has insisted there be at least “one sentence” in the agreement that directly refers to the US providing meaningful security guarantees to Ukraine, it is still unclear how this will be included.
At Trump’s first official cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he said that Ukraine was Europe’s responsibility and that security promises from the US were unnecessary because having American economic interests in the region would be enough to repel future attacks.
“Well, I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond... we’re gonna have Europe do that... ’cause Europe is their next-door neighbor,” Trump said.
“Nobody’s going to mess around with our people when we’re there.”
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