Ukraine marks Russia invasion anniversary amid talk US minerals deal is close

KYIV: Ukraine hosted European leaders on Monday (Feb 24) to mark three years of all-out war with Russia since Moscow's invasion, while top US officials stayed away in a clear illustration of President Donald Trump's lurch towards Moscow since returning to power.

Still reeling from Trump falsely calling President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator", Kyiv said it was in the final stages of reaching a deal with Washington to provide US access to its mineral wealth.

After meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House, Trump said Zelenskyy could travel to Washington this week or next to seal the minerals agreement, which he called "very close," and suggested the war in Ukraine could end within weeks. But he did not elaborate.

"Our focus is on achieving a ceasefire as soon as possible, and ultimately a permanent peace," Trump said during a joint press conference with Macron.

Macron, in a later interview with Fox News, said he believes a truce in Ukraine is feasible in the next few weeks. A US minerals deal with Kyiv would be one of the best ways to ensure a commitment from Washington, he said.

Trump stopped short of saying, however, that the minerals agreement would contain the explicit US security guarantees that Ukraine has sought and put the onus on Europe for the "central role" in assuring the country's long-term security.

A Ukrainian government source said the US did not like the idea of including wording about providing security guarantees.

The minerals deal is at the heart of Kyiv's bid to win US support, but officials have negotiated in the shadow of an extraordinary war of words between Trump and Zelenskyy, who said the US leader was living in a "disinformation bubble".

Trump's rush to impose an end to Russia's war in Ukraine - and his seeming embrace of part of the Kremlin narrative - have stoked fears of far-reaching US concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin that could undermine security in Ukraine and Europe and alter the geopolitical landscape.

Zelenskyy refused to sign an earlier draft of a minerals agreement as Washington sought rights to US$500 billion in Ukraine's natural wealth. Kyiv protested it had received far less than that in US aid and the deal lacked the security guarantees Ukraine needs.

Macron said Europe was prepared to send peacekeepers to monitor a truce in Ukraine and increase defence spending. Trump said Putin had said he was willing to accept European peacekeepers.

"WORRIED" EUROPEAN FOREIGN MINISTERS

In Kyiv on Monday, Zelenskyy welcomed a slew of European and other leaders to a summit to commemorate Moscow's 2022 invasion, the start of the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

"Putin will not gift us this peace, nor will he give it to us in exchange for anything. We have to win peace with strength, wisdom and unity - with our cooperation," Zelenskyy said.

The visitors included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and the leaders of Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

There was no sign of US representation.

The European leaders rallied around Zelenskyy in speeches, calling for countries on the continent to step up support for Kyiv, while some spoke of the urgent need to increase defence spending.

European officials have been left flat-footed by Trump's decisions to hold talks on ending the war in Ukraine with Russia, spurning both Kyiv and Europe, and by his administration's warning that the United States was no longer primarily focused on Europe's security.

Asked earlier whether Ukraine should be willing to cede territory as part of an end to the war, Trump, who last week falsely accused Kyiv of starting the conflict, said: "We'll see."

Even as Trump pressed for a quick deal with Putin, Macron urged a more deliberate approach, saying: "We don't want an agreement that is weak."

Putin said on Monday that Russia is not opposed to Europe's involvement in Russia-US peace talks on the Ukraine crisis that began in Riyadh last week, but he noted that Brussels had previously declined to engage in dialogue with Moscow.

He said Trump was approaching the Russia-Ukraine conflict with rationality rather than emotion.

TRUMP WILLING TO GO TO MOSCOW

At the United Nations on Monday, Kyiv and Europe scored a diplomatic victory with resolutions in the General Assembly that backed Ukraine's sovereignty.

But the US and Russia succeeded in the Security Council with a US-drafted resolution that took a neutral position on the conflict.

The Group of Seven nations were still trying to negotiate a joint statement on the war, Canada said. Washington has objected to language about "Russian aggression" in such a statement, Reuters reported last week.

In a post on Truth Social after a call with Group of Seven leaders, Trump said he was in "serious discussions" with Putin about ending the war and "major Economic Development transactions which will take place between the United States and Russia".

A few hours later, Putin announced an offer for the US government and companies to explore Russia's rare earth deposits and for Russia to supply aluminium to the US.

In the three-year-old conflict, thousands of Ukrainian citizens have died and more than 6 million are refugees abroad.

Western estimates based on intelligence reports vary widely, but most say hundreds of thousands have been killed or wounded on each side.