Trump says Zelensky ready for Russia talks, mineral deal

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky has told him Kiev was ready for talks with Russia and the finalization of a U.S. minerals deal, days after the pair's explosive White House meeting.

The dramatic collapse of Kiev and Washington's wartime alliance has played out in the open since the televised dispute in the Oval Office last week, followed by Ukraine's top ally suspending crucial military aid.

Zelensky has since sought to bring Trump back onside, posting on social media that their clash was "regrettable" and he wanted "to make things right".

In his address to U.S. Congress later on Tuesday, Trump read aloud from a letter he said he recently received from Zelensky, which matched the social media statement.

"The letter reads, 'Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians," Trump told U.S. lawmakers in his first address since returning to office.

"We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence.'"

Addressing Congress, Trump added that, "regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time that is convenient for you."

In the Oval Office on Friday, Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of being ungrateful for U.S. assistance and Trump berated the wartime leader as not having "cards" to play.

Zelensky left without signing an agreement pushed by Trump for the United States to secure control over Ukrainian mineral resources.

While Trump was expected to use Tuesday's speech to lay out a plan for the Ukraine war, he did not further detail how he envisages ending the gruelling three-year conflict.

He did say he had engaged in "serious discussions with Russia".

Trump's rapproachement with Moscow and decision on Monday to halt military assistance to Kiev has stunned allies.

Like Ukraine, the European Union has been excluded from U.S.-Russian negotiations towards a potential truce, prompting fears any deal proposed would be on Moscow's terms.

Moscow meanwhile hailed Trump's decision to halt assistance to Ukraine, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling it a "solution which could really push the Kiev regime to a peace process".

The U.S. pause impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.

'Stab in the back'

Ordinary Ukrainians speaking to AFP were shocked at what they viewed as a betrayal by Trump.

"It's like a stab in the back," a 33-year-old financial assistant in Kiev who gave only her first name, Sofia, told AFP.

Trump "wants Ukraine's surrender, the deaths of our people, the surrender of our territories," army volunteer Sergiy Sternenko said on Telegram.

Poland's government noted that America's decision was made without consulting NATO allies, and said the impact was already being felt.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou told lawmakers in Paris that "entire trains" carrying U.S. supplies for Ukraine "are being stopped and prevented from reaching their destination".

Troops on the ground?

Last week, Zelensky had travelled to Washington expecting to sign a U.S.-Ukrainian deal for the joint exploitation of Ukraine's vast mineral resources, as part of a post-war recovery in a U.S.-brokered peace deal.

The proposal was to give Washington financial benefits for helping Ukraine in a truce, even if Trump has repeatedly refused to commit any U.S. military force as a back-up to European troops who might act as peacekeepers.

After the fiery Oval Office exchange, Zelensky was asked to leave.

On Tuesday, Zelensky said that Kiev remained ready to sign the deal at "any time and in any convenient format".

Ukraine is also seeking tough security guarantees for an end to the war.

After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month Ukraine-Russia truce -- potentially backstopped by troops on the ground.

Vance, in an interview with Fox News on Monday, mocked the idea of "some random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years" sending soldiers to Ukraine. That prompted angry responses from French and British politicians.

Vance insisted Tuesday he had not mentioned France or Britain, and said both had "fought bravely" alongside the United States over the past two decades.