KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he discussed air defence systems and sanctions on Russia with Donald Trump on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican, in what he called the best meeting the two had ever had.
In comments released by his presidential administration, Zelenskiy also said he and the U.S. president agreed that a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow was the correct first step towards ending the war in Ukraine.
He said he raised the topic of sanctions with Trump at the impromptu meeting last week, and that Trump’s response on this question was “very strong”. Zelenskiy did not give specifics.
He also said the critical minerals deal signed by the two countries on Wednesday was mutually beneficial, and that it would allow Ukraine to defend future U.S. investments, as well as its own territory and people.
The accord, heavily touted by Trump, will give the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and unleash U.S. investment in Ukraine’s reconstruction.
“Only if the parties then, in the future, agree that in 20 years the fund is fine, things are being built, there is production,” he said, appearing to refer to the possibility of withdrawals in the longer term.
The deal aims to establish a fund to manage investments and hold profits. Zelenskiy said there will be a 3-3 split between Ukrainian and U.S. appointees on the plan’s supervisory board, which would choose its director.
On the security element of the deal, Zelenskiy highlighted the importance of more effective air defences that have remained one of Kyiv’s main requests to its allies throughout Russia’s three-year-old full-scale invasion.
AIR DEFENCES
“And so we are ready for air defence systems to be a contribution (to the fund). I told him about the number (of systems that we need) – he told me that they will work on it, (that) these things are not free.”
Zelenskiy said that $30 billion of military aid allocated in 2024 by the U.S. Congress was due to be supplied in 2025 and 2026, $15 billion of it each year. It was not clear if his remark included aid already supplied in 2025.
