By Tom Howell Jr. – The Washington Times – Monday, March 31, 2025
President Trump says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will have “big problems” if he tries to rework a deal that would provide rare earth minerals to the U.S. as payment for American support during the Russian invasion.
The back-and-forth over the deal has been a source of contention between Mr. Trump and Kyiv even as both sides say they’re optimistic about reaching an agreement.
“I see he’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal. And if he does that, he’s got some problems,” Mr. Trump said late Sunday of Mr. Zelenskyy on Air Force One. “Big, big problems. We made a deal on rare earth and now he’s saying, ’Well, you know, I want to renegotiate the deal.’”
Mr. Trump seemed to be referring to Mr. Zelenskyy’s belief that the terms keep shifting, particularly whether a framework deal would be set up before a final agreement. The Ukrainian president said the U.S. appeared to be demanding a full agreement right away.
“It’s too early to talk about the agreement, which has been changed several times. But I would not want the U.S. to have a feeling that Ukraine is against it in general,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. “We have consistently shown our positive signals. We are for cooperation with the United States.”
Mr. Zelenskyy visited the White House in late February to sign a deal but the meeting was a disaster, with Mr. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance lecturing the Ukrainian about his lack of gratitude and negotiating leverage against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The rare-earths talks have hobbled along since then. At one point, Mr. Trump said he would abandon pursuit of a rare-earths agreement in favor of the U.S. gaining an interest in Ukraine’s nuclear energy industry.
Mr. Trump continues to grumble about Mr. Zelenskyy’s demands.
“He wants to be a member of NATO. Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO. He understands that,” Mr. Trump said Sunday. “So if he’s looking to renegotiate the deal, he’s got big problems.”
Mr. Trump campaigned last year on ending the Russian invasion, which began in February 2022 and has devastated Ukraine. Both sides have sustained massive amounts of casualties, and Mr. Trump wants credit for ending the fighting, saying the situation is locked in a bloody stalemate.
The U.S. president has been criticized for his tendency to compliment Mr. Putin.
Yet on Sunday, Mr. Trump said he was “very angry” and “pissed off” at Mr. Putin after the Russian leader questioned whether Mr. Zelenskyy should be replaced with a temporary United Nations-run government.
“That’s not going in the right location,” Mr. Trump told NBC News. “I was pissed off about it. But if a deal isn’t made, and if I think it was Russia’s fault, I’m going to put secondary sanctions on Russia.”
Mr. Trump said he is prepared to slap new 25% to 50% tariffs on Russian energy exports if “Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine.”
“Anybody buying oil from Russia will not be able to sell their product, any product, not just oil, into the United States,” he said.
