Treasury Secretary Scott Becent, the first senior Trump administration official to visit Ukraine, discussed on Wednesday an agreement to trade access to Ukraine's natural resources for ongoing military support.
Becent's trip is about whether the US will be maintained when Trump returns to the White House between Kiev's unrest and American allies, against Ukrainian war efforts.
Speaking during a meeting with President Volodimia Zelensky, Becent said, “President Trump has plans to end this war,” and said, “We want an economic cooperation agreement. In exchange for this agreement , the United States will continue to provide important support to Ukraine.”
Zelensky described the deal as a “detailed plan” for a strategic partnership between the two countries, including opportunities for American companies, and said Ukraine wanted to invest in its resources.
“I am grateful for his message that the president and he is supporting Ukraine,” Zelensky said of Trump. “And I know he's a strong guy and I'm sure he'll push Putin.”
President Trump said Wednesday he made a “very productive” call for Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and the Russian-Ukraine peace deal. Zelensky made another call with Trump.
Zelensky said X discussed plans for him and Trump on Wednesday to ensure continued US support in exchange for access to Ukraine's natural resources. The two discussed “preparing new documents on security, economic cooperation and resource partnerships.” He said they had long and meaningful conversations and “schematically sequentially the next steps to stop the attacks of Russia and ensure a lasting, reliable peace.
“Like President Trump said, let's get it done,” Zelensky wrote.
Mr Becent said a trip to Ukraine “should be a strong signal that war is a top priority for the Trump administration.” He added that his visit was “intentional to assure Americans that they understand what we are doing here.”
The Trump administration has already called for arrangements to secure Ukraine's rights to natural resources, including key minerals, as a guarantee of further support for the United States.
“This war must close soon, and so many deaths and destruction will end,” Trump said in his post on True Society on Tuesday.
Trump, who cut spending in various fields, wrote that the visit, which is the focus of the early days of his new administration, would touch on American aid to Ukraine. The US added that it had spent billions of dollars saying it was “too little to show.”
Zelensky said he welcomed Bescent's visit. “We are already ready for a meeting with US representatives. The negotiations will begin soon,” Zelensky said in an evening address to Ukrainians on Tuesday.
Trump's focus on securing mining rights is reflected in his choice to make Becent the first high-level visit to Ukraine, rather than senior security or military personnel discussing the war. Ta.
Hours after Trump announced his visit, Russia launched an air attack on Ukraine. Ukraine included a volley of ballistic missiles targeting the capital Kiev.
According to the Kiev city government, a missile strike before 5am killed one person and injured four others, including a 9-year-old girl.
The fires of buildings in four districts and the debris fell from intercepted by air defense missiles through Kiev-scattered debris that echoed through the capital for several minutes.
The Ukrainian missile volley came hours after Russia released American prisoner Mark Vogel.
In a post from X, Zelensky also expressed support to end the war. “This Russian fear of Ukraine will not stop on its own,” he wrote. “Now we need the unity and support of all our partners to just end this war.”
Overall, Russia fired six ballistic missiles and 123 explosive drones overnight in Ukraine after a nearly month period when Russia had barely refrained from using ballistic missiles. Also, fighting continued along the frontlines of eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops resumed assault.
During his meeting with Becent, Zelensky mentioned the missile barrage on Wednesday. Ukraine relied on American air defense, he said. To protect against Russia's attack on Wednesday, Zelensky said Ukraine had fired 10 patriot interceptors.
The Ukrainian army reported that 149 air bombs had been dropped from the plane and over 2,000 short-range drone strikes were fired at the frontline position.
In another missile attack on Ukraine, Russia on Tuesday attacked Poltava, the country's main natural gas producer, continuing its attack on the country's energy infrastructure.
Beyond Ukraine, Polish forces reported on Tuesday that Russian troops had temporarily invaded the airspace, saying it was in contact with Russian counterparts. The error was due to problems with the plane's navigation system.
