A proposed funding deal to safe entry to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals just isn’t presently on the desk, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned Sunday, following Friday’s tense Oval Office assembly between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump final week.
“I don’t know what President Zelensky was thinking — we had President of France Emmanuel Macron in on Monday, great meeting; we had Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, fantastic meeting. They were all on board the arc of the peace agreement,” Bessent, who was within the Oval Office for Friday’s assembly, mentioned on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“All President Zelensky had to do was come in and sign this economic agreement and again, show no daylight, no daylight between Ukrainian people and the American people, and he chose to blow that up.”
Pressed in a follow-up trade on whether or not the deal was nonetheless on the desk, he added, “Not at present.”
After Friday’s explosive assembly, Trump mentioned in a Truth Social publish that Zelensky might come again to the White House “when he is ready for peace.”
“I think we have to see if President Zelensky wants to proceed — what’s the use in having an economic agreement that’s going to be rendered moot if he wants the fighting to continue? President Trump wants a peace deal,” Bessent mentioned.
On Friday, Zelensky mentioned Ukraine want to see an finish to the struggle, however expressed concern that Russian President Vladimir Putin was more likely to break a ceasefire if any financial settlement between the Ukraine and the US didn’t include safety assurances.
“We need more than just that. A ceasefire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine. We’ve been fighting for three years, and Ukrainian people need to know that America is on our side,” Zelensky said.