Trump was going to cancel Zelenskyy’s visit to US, but Macron dissuaded him – media
The visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Washington on February 28 would have been canceled if French leader Emmanuel Macron had not intervened in talks with US President Donald Trump and dissuaded him.
This is reported by BFMTV with reference to a French diplomatic source, Censor.NET reports.
According to reports, on Wednesday, February 26, the Trump administration sent a message to the Ukrainian side requesting that Zelenskyy not come to Washington and canceling the meeting.
However, the Ukrainian president called Macron, who then contacted Trump, urging him to receive Zelenskyy and personally vouching for the meeting.
Following Macron’s call, Trump reconsidered and agreed, later publicly announcing that he would host the Ukrainian leader in Washington on Friday, February 28.
Earlier, the media reported that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would meet with Donald Trump on February 28, 2025.
Minerals agreement with the US
As a reminder, Trump has said he wants to sign a $500 billion deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on access to rare earth resources and natural gas in Ukraine in exchange for security guarantees in any potential peace settlement.
President Zelenskyy said that the agreement with the US on minerals would be signed at the ministerial level when ready and subject to guarantees. Currently, this document is not ready to protect Ukraine's interests.
Later, Trump said that Ukraine had rejected the rare earth metals deal. The agreement was needed so that the United States could recover the money spent on supporting Ukraine.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has given to Ukraine an "improved" draft of the minerals agreement that "complies with Ukrainian law."
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that if the US wants to see specific numbers in the minerals agreement, then according to Ukrainian law, ratification by the Verkhovna Rada will be required.
On 25 February, the Financial Times reported that Ukraine and the United States had agreed on the terms of a deal on minerals, and Kyiv was ready to sign the document.
