US stepping back from peace talks to end war between Russia and Ukraine: State Department
Volodymyr Zelensky said a landmark minerals deal with the United States offered ‘equal’ benefits for both sides, as Russian drones rip into Ukraine. Follow updates.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a landmark minerals deal with the United States offered “equal” benefits for both sides even though the accord offered no concrete security guarantees for Kyiv.
Russia later launched a large-scale drone attack on the central industrial city of Zaporizhzhia, ripping open a Soviet-era residential building and wounding 14 people after Mr Zelensky urged allies to step up pressure on Moscow to end its invasion.
The agreement, which has taken months to negotiate, would see Washington and Kyiv jointly develop and invest in Ukraine’s critical mineral resources.
PThe agreement “changed significantly” during negotiations, Mr Zelensky said in an address.
“Now it is a truly equal agreement that creates an opportunity for quite significant investment in Ukraine.”
“There is no debt in the deal, and a fund - a recovery fund - will be created that will invest in Ukraine and earn money here,” he added.
Kyiv and Washington planned to sign the agreement in February, but a White House clash between US President Donald Trump and Mr Zelensky derailed the talks.
Ukraine hopes the deal will pave the way for the United States to give security guarantees as it seeks to safeguard against future Russian attacks following Moscow’s invasion.
The agreement still needs to be ratified by Ukraine’s parliament. Trump initially described the arrangement as “money back” for the wartime aid Ukraine received under his predecessor Joe Biden.
Ukraine says the agreement is not linked to any past “debt” however, and US officials stressed that the accord signalled US support for Ukraine.
Moscow has kept up its attacks on Ukraine unabated, despite President Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire.
The United States warned that this week would be “critical” in determining whether it would walk away from efforts to broker an end to the conflict.
US Vice President JD Vance said that he was “optimistic” about securing a halt to fighting but said it would ultimately be up to Kyiv and Moscow.
“They’re the ones who have to take the final step,” he said in comments carried on Fox News.
And Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was possible the United States could walk away from the peace process given “we’ve got so many - and I would argue - even more important issues going on around the world.”
“I would say what’s happening with China is more important in the long-term for the future of the world,” he said Thursday on Fox News.
Vladimir Putin has declared a surprise three-day truce from May 8-10, coinciding with Moscow’s large-scale celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of World War II Victory Day.
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KREMLIN BLASTS US-UKRAINE MINERALS DEAL
The Kremlin has blasted the United States’ historic mineral rights deal with Ukraine, sarcastically praising the US President for making a deal with a nation that will soon “disappear.”
“Trump has finally pressured the Kyiv regime to pay for US aid with mineral resources,” Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram.
“Now, the country that is about to disappear will have to use its national wealth to pay for military supplies.”
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the deal offered “equal” benefits for both sides, despite falling short of the explicit security guarantees Kyiv had sought.
Mr Zelensky added that more pressure was needed on Russia after Kyiv and other towns were hit with missile strikes shortly after the deal was signed that left at least two dead and 15 wounded.
The agreement, which has taken months to negotiate, would see the United States and Kyiv jointly develop and invest in Ukraine’s critical mineral resources.
Donald Trump initially described the arrangement as “money back” for the wartime aid Ukraine received under his predecessor Joe Biden.
Ukraine said the new agreement is not linked to any past “debt” however. And US officials stressed that the accord signalled US support for Ukraine.
“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centred on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in Washington.
Why the deal?
President Trump had demanded compensation for US aid given to Ukraine under his predecessor Joe Biden’s administration since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
The US leader had sought $US500bn ($A784bn) – around four times the amount that the United States has paid out to Ukraine, which currently stands at $US120bn ($A188bn), according to Germany’s Kiel Institute.
Mr Zelensky rejected that version of the deal, saying he would not sign an accord that “10 generations” of Ukrainians would have to pay off.
Ukraine has agreed to the minerals deal as a way to secure long-term US investment, after Mr Trump drastically scaled back US security commitments around the world.
The US leader has baulked at offering security guarantees to Ukraine and rejected its bid to join NATO – but he has said a US presence on the ground would benefit Ukraine.
How will it work?
The two countries will establish a joint Reconstruction Investment Fund, with each side having equal voting rights.
The agreement covers 57 types of resources, which include oil and gas. The fund’s profits will be invested exclusively in Ukraine, which will not be asked to pay back any “debt” for the billions of dollars in US support since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
When Washington provides new military aid, it will be counted as its contribution to the fund, the agreement said.
Ukraine says it will have full control over its subsoil, infrastructure and natural resources.
The deal will exclusively finance mineral, oil and gas projects as well as infrastructure and processing in Ukraine for the first 10 years, after which profits “may be distributed between the partners,” Kyiv says.
Ukraine says the agreement will not impact its bid for integration with the European Union.
What resources does Ukraine have?
Ukraine holds about five per cent of the world’s mineral resources and rare earths, according to various estimates.
But work has not yet started on tapping many of the resources and a number of sites are in territory now controlled by Russian forces.
Ukraine also has around 20 per cent of the world’s graphite, an essential material for electric batteries, according to France’s Bureau of Geological and Mining Research, and is a major producer of manganese and titanium.
It also says it possesses one of the largest lithium deposits in Europe, which is yet to be extracted.
Kyiv says “rare earth metals are known to exist in six deposits” and an investment of US$300 million would be needed to develop a deposit at Novopoltavske, which it claimed was one of the world’s largest.
What does US support mean for Ukraine?
Ukraine has said any deal would need to include long-term and robust security guarantees that would deter Russia from attacking again.
But the text does not place any specific security commitments on the United States.
It simply says that the United States “supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain the security assurances necessary to build a lasting peace.”
However, a US Treasury statement notably mentioned Russia’s “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine – diverging from the Trump administration’s usual formulation of a “conflict” for which Kyiv bears a large degree of responsibility.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the deal provided a chance for Washington to get “compensation” for its funding and weapons throughout the war, and showed “that the US has an economic interest in Ukraine.”
“It’s a signal to the Russian leadership,” he told Fox News.
‘BUMBLING F***ING IDIOT’: TRUMP ENVOY SLAMMED
Mr Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, has left administration insiders distressed by his approach to negotiating with two of America’s greatest adversaries — with one calling the 68-year-old a “bumbling f***ing idiot” over his conduct, The New York Post reports.
Mr Witkoff, who has become Mr Trump’s de facto personal ambassador to Russian President Vladimir Putin, takes part in high-level meetings alone in a break with longstanding diplomatic procedure, multiple sources told The New York Post.
Ahead of Mr Witkoff’s most recent meeting with Mr Putin last week, he greeted the Kremlin tyrant like an old friend – with no sign of the usual coterie of advisers, experts and military officers who typically accompany US officials conducting negotiations, the Post reports.
US READY TO ‘STEP BACK’ OVER FRUSTRATIONS WITH RUSSIA
The United States will give up on peace talks in Russia unless the Kremlin and Ukraine put forward “concrete proposals”, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned.
US President Donald Trump had vowed to end the war in his first 24 hours back in the White House but, as the Republican celebrates 100 days in office, Rubio said the administration could soon turn attention to other issues.
“We are now at a time where concrete proposals need to be delivered by the two parties on how to end this conflict,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters, in what she said was a message from Mr Rubio.
“If there is not progress, we will step back as mediators in this process.”
She said it would ultimately be up to Mr Trump to decide whether to move ahead on diplomacy.
Vladimir Putin recently proposed a three-day ceasefire around Moscow’s commemorations next week for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
But he has rebuffed a Ukrainian-backed US call for a 30-day ceasefire.
The United States wants “not a three-day moment so you can celebrate something else – a complete, durable ceasefire and an end to the conflict,” Bruce said.
RUSSIAN CAPTORS ‘TORTURED’ SLAIN UKRANIAN JOURNO
The body of a Ukrainian journalist who was kidnapped and killed by Russians was returned to her home country severely mutilated, likely to obscure the torture she suffered, according to a shock investigation.
Victoria Roshchyna had vital organs removed before her body was sent back to Ukraine in February, two-and-a-half years after she went missing in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories in August 2023, a report from Forbidden Stories found.
The 27-year-old’s body showed obvious signs of torture including abrasions, haemorrhages, a broken rib and possible evidence of electric shocks, the head of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office’s war crimes department, Yuriy Belousov, told Pravda.
Russia only confirmed that they had detained Roshchyna in May 2024, nine months after she disappeared.
According to the Media Initiative for Human Rights, she was taken to a brutal penal colony in Berdyansk, eastern Ukraine.
ZELENSKY SLAMS PUTIN’S TRUCE CALL
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has hit back at Vladimir Putin’s suggestion they stop fighting for three days so he can host the Chinese leader for a parade in peace.
Mr Putin wants to temporarily halt fire from May 8 to 10 in order to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in World War Two along with Xi Jinping.
“We in Ukraine never wanted a single second of this war,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X, noting he has put multiple ceasefires on the table ranging from full and permanent to avoiding civilian targets.
“Russia has consistently rejected everything and continues to manipulate the world, trying to deceive the United States.
“Now, yet again, another attempt at manipulation: for some reason everyone is supposed to wait until May 8 before ceasing fire – just to provide Putin with silence for his parade.
“We value human lives, not parades. That’s why we believe – and the world believes – that there is no reason to wait until May 8. The ceasefire should not be just for a few days, only to return to killing afterwards.”
– with AFP
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Originally published as US stepping back from peace talks to end war between Russia and Ukraine: State Department
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