Ukraine pushes ahead on US deal after Trump renews criticism

Ukraine’s top diplomat said officials are pressing ahead with the U.S. toward an “acceptable” economic accord hours after President Donald Trump accused Kyiv of trying to renegotiate the deal.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukrainian officials were poring over the latest draft of an infrastructure and natural resources deal sent by the U.S. last week as talks with negotiators in Washington moved ahead. Kyiv is prepared to endorse an agreement that provides security with a significant U.S. business presence in Ukraine, the Cabinet minister said.

“The process will continue,” Sybiha told reporters in Kyiv Tuesday as he met with his counterpart from Lithuania. “We will be working with our American colleagues in order to achieve a text that would be mutually acceptable.”

Days after Trump expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S. leader on Monday turned his ire back to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, blaming the Ukrainian president for seeking new terms for the accord.

The comments amount to geopolitical whiplash during a week in which Trump plans to unleash global tariffs — and exposes impatience in the White House with efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump on Monday signaled he thought Putin will “follow through” on a ceasefire, while reinforcing his anger at Zelenskyy over what he called new conditions from Kyiv for the pending accord.

“I heard that they’re now saying, well, I’ll only do that deal if we get into NATO or something to that effect,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

While Zelenskyy has repeatedly said joining NATO would be the preferred and the most efficient option to ensure peace and security, he has expressed openness to other security guarantees.

Fears in Kyiv

Instead, the latest draft of the resources agreement — which would grant the U.S. control over all major future infrastructure and mineral investments in the war-battered country — raised concerns in Kyiv that a deal could undermine its bid to join the European Union, Bloomberg News reported last week. Officials also feared that it could require Ukraine to repay all U.S. military and economic support since the start of the war.

Still, Sybiha said that an agreement could pave the way for the presence of “powerful, large American business,” which on its own would provide a security guarantee.

“This is always important — strengthening the presence of American business,” the minister said.

Ukrainian officials are scrutinizing the text and may ask for changes, a person familiar with the talks said late last week. Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators held a video call on Friday, which included legal experts, to seek clarification about the nearly 60-page draft agreement, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as the talks are private.

As Trump rushes toward securing a ceasefire between the warring parties in time to mark his 100 days in power, even the limited truce on energy strikes mediated by American negotiators last month isn’t holding. Both sides trade accusations of violating it.

A fresh Russian strike damaged an energy facility in the southern region of Kherson early Tuesday, leaving 45,000 civilians without electricity, Sybiha said. The attack followed similar strikes against the regions of Kharkiv and Poltava, according to the minister.

A Ukrainian drone strike meanwhile left some 1,200 people without electricity in Russia’s Belgorod region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Telegram on Tuesday.