President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that the talks between the administrations of Ukraine and the United States are substantial; in particular, a schedule of meetings is being drawn up. He said this in his address to the nation on Tuesday, quoted by "Ukrinform".
"Our teams have already started to talk in substance, the teams from Ukraine and the United States: today the head of my office Andriy Yermak is talking with Michael Waltz and we are drawing up a schedule of meetings," he said.
Zelensky also added that he had a conversation with the Prime Minister of Australia today. According to the president, the most important thing that was discussed was new steps to pressure Russia on the war, to push for a just peace.
"We are preserving our unity, global unity, and that really reduces Russia's ability to continue this insane, criminal aggression, Russia's aggression against Ukraine," the head of state noted.
Trump announced on Monday that he wanted to make a deal with Ukraine in which the United States would provide military aid for the war against Russian President Vladimir Putin in exchange for rare earth metals to Ukraine.
Ukraine has strategic reserves of titanium, lithium, graphite and uranium, which are crucial to its future economic stability and potentially part of the calculation in balancing immediate aid with long-term sovereignty over its resources.
Some of the critical minerals are in areas currently occupied by Russia, which has been waging war against Ukraine since 2014. and launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
Sharing resources with allies is part of President Volodymyr Zelensky's "victory plan" for the war against Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized United States President Donald Trump's offer to provide military aid to Ukraine in exchange for access to its rare earth resources, Politico reported.
"If we call it what it is, this is an offer to buy aid - in other words, not to give it unconditionally or for any other reasons, but specifically to provide it on a commercial basis," Peskov told reporters. Tuesday.
"It would be better, of course, not to provide the aid at all, as that would contribute to the end of this conflict," he added of the war.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Trump's proposal, calling it "very selfish, very self-centered" and arguing that Ukraine would need its natural resources to finance post-war reconstruction.
British journalist Piers Morgan published in X a short excerpt from an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which will be broadcast on social networks later this evening, "Ukrinform" and UNIAN reported.
The journalist asked Zelensky if he had a "plan B" in case Ukraine does not join NATO, a condition allegedly set by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who explained the invasion with Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
If the process of joining the Alliance drags on for years or decades - not because of Ukraine, but because of its partners - then Ukraine will rightly ask itself what will protect it from this evil, what support and weapons Ukraine will receive, Zelensky said.
In this case, according to him, the partners should provide a sufficient number of missiles and even return nuclear weapons to Ukraine, as well as help finance a million-strong army to deter Russia so that the people can have peace of mind.
Russia should also pay financial compensation for all the damage caused to Ukraine, Zelensky added.