by WorldTribune Staff, February 25, 2025 Real World News
President Donald Trump on Monday said he is close to a deal to end Russia’s war with Ukraine, possibly “within weeks.”
Hosting French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on the third anniversary of the Russian invasion, Trump also said he expected Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy to soon sign a deal giving Washington access to Kiev’s rare earth minerals.
Trump said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would accept peacemakers from Europe in Ukraine as part of a possible deal to end the war.
Trump mentioned Putin’s concession during a press conference with Macron at the White House:
“Yeah, he will accept it,” Trump answered when a reporter asked him about European peacemakers in Ukraine as part of a deal to end the war. “I have asked him that question. Look, if we do this deal, he’s not looking for World War.”
Members of Trump's administration spoke with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia last week about potential ways to end the war in Ukraine.
Macron said that Europe was ready to “step up” defense spending and to deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine. But he said he wanted “strong” U.S. involvement in any such plan.
"President Macron is a very special man in my book," Trump later told reporters while sitting next to the French president. "We were together. We did it together. And I think a lot of progress has been made. We've had some very good talks with Russia. We've had some very good talks with others and we're trying to get the war ended with Russia and Ukraine."
“I think we could end it within weeks — if we’re smart. If we’re not smart, it will keep going,” Trump said.
U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told reporters on Monday that “we expect to talk quite a bit about the security guarantees that Macron has put on the table.”
Trump said earlier this month he wanted a deal with Ukraine on obtaining its rare earth minerals.
Rare earths are a set of 17 elements that are essential to many kinds of consumer technology, including cellphones, hard drives and electric and hybrid vehicles.
Waltz also expressed confidence Friday that Zelenskyy would eventually accept a deal letting the U.S. access his country’s rare earth minerals.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Waltz said: “Here’s the bottom line. President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal.”
In a post to Truth Social, Trump wrote: "Everyone expressed their goal of seeing the War end, and I emphasized the importance of the vital "Critical Minerals and Rare-Earths Deal" between the United States and Ukraine, which we hope will be signed very soon! This deal, which is an "Economic Partnership," will ensure the American people recoup the Tens of Billions of Dollars and Military Equipment sent to Ukraine, while also helping Ukraine’s economy grow as this Brutal and Savage War comes to an end,"
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