Donald Trump leveled a sharp warning at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of trying to walk away from a critical minerals agreement and hinting at severe consequences if he does.
‘He´s trying to back out of the rare earth deal,’ Trump said speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening, referring to negotiations over US access to critical minerals in Ukraine. ‘And if he does that he’s got some problems. Big, big problems.’
The agreement would grant American companies expanded access to Ukraine’s vast deposits of strategic minerals.
Trump and Zelensky were supposed to sign the deal when the Ukrainian leader visited the White House. However, their meeting ended with acrimony that played out in front of television cameras in the Oval Office.
Trump suggested on Sunday that Zelensky wanted to ‘renegotiate the deal’ to get better security guarantees.
‘He wants to be a member of NATO,’ Trump said. ‘Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO. He understands that.’
The remarks, delivered during a flight back to Washington following a weekend at Mar-a-Lago, signaled a dramatic turn in Trump’s approach to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Although Trump has long expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, he showed irritation toward both leaders on Sunday – blasting Putin for stalling peace negotiations and Zelensky for what he described as bad-faith maneuvering.
The Biden administration had previously supported a framework deal to give Ukraine a pathway to NATO membership post-war, but Trump has repeatedly dismissed that notion, arguing that such promises escalate the conflict without offering meaningful protection to Kyiv.
Trump’s comments come as Ukraine faces intensified Russian bombardment and as ceasefire negotiations grow more tenuous.
Over the weekend, Russian drones struck a military hospital and residential areas in Kharkiv, killing two and injuring dozens.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Moscow is using ceasefire talks as a stalling tactic while preparing a new offensive.
Despite expressing frustration with Putin’s delays, Trump defended his long-standing rapport with the Russian leader.
‘I don’t think he’s going to go back on his word,’ Trump said. ‘I’ve known him for a long time. We’ve always gotten along well.’
But his clearest message on Sunday was directed at Kyiv with Trump making it clear that access to Ukraine’s mineral wealth is a strategic imperative for the US and one he’s unwilling to see slip away.
‘He reneges on that deal,’ Trump said of Zelensky, ‘and we’ll see just how tough things can get.’
Earlier, Trump expressed his struggle to forge a truce with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to end the war.
Although Trump insisted to reporters that ‘we’re making a lot of progress,’ he acknowledged that ‘there’s tremendous hatred’ between the two men, a fresh indication that negotiations may not produce the swift conclusion that he promised during the campaign.
Trump began voicing his criticisms in an early morning interview with NBC News while he was at Mar-a-Lago.
He said he was ‘angry, p****ed off’ that Putin questioned Zelensky’s credibility.
The Russian leader recently said that Zelensky lacks the legitimacy to sign a peace deal and suggested that Ukraine needed external governance.
Trump said he would consider adding new sanctions on Russia, which already faces steep financial penalties, and using tariffs to undermine its oil exports.
The Republican president rarely criticizes Putin, and he’s previously attacked Zelensky’s credibility himself.
Earlier this year Trump suggested that Ukraine caused the war that began with a Russian invasion three years ago, and he’s insisted that Zelensky should hold elections even though it’s illegal under Ukraine’s constitution to do so during martial law.
On his flight back to Washington on Sunday evening, Trump reiterated his annoyance toward Putin but somewhat softened his tone.
‘I don’t think he’s going to go back on his word,’ he said. ‘I’ve known him for a long time. We’ve always gotten along well.’
Asked when he wanted Russia to agree to a ceasefire, Trump said there was a ‘psychological deadline.’
‘If I think they’re tapping us along, I will not be happy about it,’ he said.