Donald Trump has said the US is close to agreeing a minerals deal with Ukraine – after accusing Britain and France of “doing nothing” to end the war.
“We’re signing an agreement, hopefully in the next fairly short period of time,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said on Friday the two countries were “working on a draft agreement”.
His comments came after a conversation between his chief of staff and US national security adviser Mike Waltz on a minerals deal the Ukrainian leader had previously turned down.
“Here’s the bottom line, President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term,” Mr Waltz told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.
It is also believed that US negotiators raised the possibility of cutting Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s vital Starlink satellite internet system if it did not agree to a deal.
Earlier, Mr Trump called French President Emmanuel Macron a “friend of mine” and UK leader Sir Keir Starmer a “nice guy” but said Russia had only agreed to negotiate “because of me”.
Mr Trump made the comments days before both leaders visit the White House for a meeting in which they must try to press Ukraine’s case while keeping the US leader onside.
The president also continued his criticism of Mr Zelenskyy, saying he had “no cards” to play.
“I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” he told a Fox radio show.
The comments come after he recently called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator without elections” – apparently in response to Mr Zelenskyy saying his US counterpart was living in a “disinformation space” after Mr Trump claimed Ukraine had started the war
Ukraine was also excluded from talks between the top US and Russian diplomats in Riyadh earlier this week.
They were intended to set the stage for future negotiations on ending the war, which started when Russia launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.
Speaking on Friday evening, Mr Trump denied speculation he could visit Moscow for talks on 9 May – the day Russia celebrates its victory over the Nazis.
Mr Trump also told reporters the Russian and Ukrainian leaders needed to “work together” to end the war.
However, the US has already dealt a huge blow to Kyiv’s position in any future talks.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that a return to pre-war borders was “unrealistic” and ruled out NATO membership as a way to guarantee Kyiv’s security.
President Zelenskyy has insisted he will not accept any deal that his country is not involved in.
Ukraine’s leader held talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, describing it later as a “good discussion”.
