Last week, even though there were some clear challenges, Donald Trump stated that he thought Ukraine and Russia were very close to making a deal.
After a Russian attack on Ukraine, and Zelensky openly pushing back on the deal, it would seem that Trump jumped the gun on that statement.
Donald Trump has suggested that Ukraine recognize Russia’s occupation of the Crimean Peninsula as part of the deal.
That would appear to be a non-starter for Zelensky, as he openly balked at ceding any territory to Russia as part of the deal.
He stated, “Our position is unchanged: only the Ukrainian people have the right to decide which territories are Ukrainian. The Constitution of Ukraine states that all temporarily occupied territories are temporarily occupied.
“They all belong to Ukraine, to the Ukrainian people. Ukraine will not legally recognize any temporarily occupied territories. I think this is an absolutely fair position. It is legal not only from the point of view of the Constitution of Ukraine, but also from the point of view of international law.”
Donald Trump is in a bad spot with China threatening to cut the supply of rare earth minerals. If we lose that supply, we are immediately on the clock before tech, energy, and transportation manufacturers will have to slow or halt production.
To that point, while the peace talks are not going well, Trump is now pressuring Zelensky to ink that minerals deal he agreed to more than a month ago.
Trump stated, “Ukraine, headed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not signed the final papers on the very important Rare Earths Deal with the United States. It is at least three weeks late. Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY.
“Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly. SUCCESS seems to be in the future!”
With Trump and Zelensky clearly not on the same page in regard to the peace deal, Zelensky announced that he wanted to buy more weapons from the United States to continue to fight the war against Russia.
Zelensky stated, “Dear Ukrainians! I have just held a Staff meeting. Today, there was also a separate report from the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. The top priority today is air defense — securing air defense systems for Ukraine, and missile supplies for them. Our agreements with our partners. Contracts. Our readiness to produce air defense systems in Ukraine, and negotiations regarding licensing.
“There were reports from the military and government officials. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been tasked with specific responsibilities. We will seek to reach a corresponding agreement with the United States as well — an agreement on Patriots for Ukraine. We are ready to purchase the necessary number of Patriot systems for our country.”
Trump later posted on Truth Social that they had a great day of talks on the peace deals and that both sides should now meet in person to close this deal. I really hope Trump is able to get a peace deal soon because the media and Democrats are starting to eat him alive on this. Besides that, Trump needs something positive to happen to flip the news cycle because he is getting crushed in polling right now.
