Trump wants to 'resurrect' Ukraine resources deal 'or things are not gonna make (Zelensky) too happy'

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 19 that he aims to "resurrect" talks on the agreement for the extraction of Ukraine's rare earth minerals, CNN reported shortly after the U.S. president accused his Ukrainian counterpart of being a "dictator."

"I think I’m gonna resurrect that deal, you know, we'll see what happens, but I’m gonna resurrect it, or things are gonna not make him (President Volodymyr Zelensky) too happy. And look, it’s time for elections," Trump said, without elaborating on the consequences for Ukraine and its president if the deal is not signed.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent passed Zelensky a draft of the Ukraine-U.S. natural resources agreement during his visit to Kyiv last week. Ukraine's leader said Kyiv is not ready to sign the document as it did not include any security guarantees.

"There are no security guarantees," in the proposed agreement, Zelensky said during the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15, adding that signing the memorandum "was not in our interest today" but did not rule out the possibility of an eventual agreement with the U.S.

Trump blamed Ukraine for treating Bessent "rather rudely" when he arrived in Kyiv to pen the memorandum.

"They told him no, and Zelensky was sleeping and unavailable to meet him," the U.S. president claimed.

"He went there to get a document signed, and when he got there, he came back empty. They wouldn’t sign the document."

Trump did not specify what the terms of the deals could be and how Ukraine could benefit from them.

The U.S. is looking to obtain 50% of Ukraine's rare earth minerals, NBC reported on Feb. 15. Washington has signaled openness to deploy American troops to guard these resources if there is a deal with Russia to end the war, undisclosed American officials told the outlet.

Trump said in early February that he wanted to strike a deal with Ukraine involving access to rare earth minerals in exchange for continued aid. Trump later claimed that Kyiv had "essentially agreed" to a $500 billion resource deal.

The news comes shortly after Trump accused the Ukrainian president of being "a dictator without elections," saying that "Zelensky better move fast or he won’t have a country left."

Kremlin propaganda has pushed the narrative that Zelensky is an illegitimate leader, relying on the premise that his first presidential term was originally meant to end on May 20, 2024. Trump's claim ignores the fact that Ukraine's constitution prohibits elections during martial law, which has been in effect since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022.

The comments follow Trump's increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Ukraine. Only a day before dubbing Zelensky a dictator, he accused Ukraine of starting the war while praising the U.S.-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia.