Trump threatens Zelensky with ‘big problems’
US President Donald Trump has warned Vladimir Zelensky to think twice before rejecting the latest version of Washington’s proposed minerals deal – which is far harsher than an earlier draft that was derailed by the Ukrainian leader’s outburst at the White House in February.
Trump has repeatedly demanded that Kiev reimburse what he claims are hundreds of billions of dollars in US aid through Ukraine’s mineral wealth, which originally focused on rare-earths. A previous version of the deal was supposed to be signed in early March, but was abruptly withdrawn after Zelensky clashed publicly with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance during an Oval Office meeting.
After Trump temporarily froze all military aid and intelligence sharing with Kiev, Zelensky signaled his willingness to resume negotiations, while still insisting that Kiev does not owe Washington anything.
On Friday, Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine had received a new draft proposal, but claimed “there are a lot of things that had not been discussed before. And there are also some things that the parties had previously rejected.”
.@POTUS: "Zelensky, by the way, I see he's trying to back out of the rare earth deal — and if he does that, he's got some problems.""He was never going to be a member of NATO ... If he's looking to renegotiate the deal, he's got big problems." pic.twitter.com/x9n8SfsOgB
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 31, 2025
In response, Trump accused Zelensky of trying to renege on the proposed agreement in remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, as reported by Reuters.
Zelensky, by the way... I see he is trying to back out of the rare earth deal, and if he does that, he’s got some problems – big, big problems.
“We made a deal on rare earths. And now he is saying: ‘Well, you know, I wanna renegotiate’... If he is looking to negotiate the deal, he’s got big problems,” the US president added.
Trump also reiterated that Ukraine should abandon its aspirations to join NATO. “He wants to be a member of NATO, but he’s never going to be a member of NATO,” Trump said, adding that Zelensky “understands that.”
According to Reuters, the latest version of the minerals deal is significantly harsher than earlier iterations. Under the proposed terms, the US would recoup all aid provided to Ukraine since the 2022 escalation of the conflict with Russia, and would impose a 4% annual interest rate on the total before Kiev could access any of the profits from the joint extraction fund.
The US has allocated more than $123 billion in military and financial assistance to Ukraine since 2022, according to data from Germany’s Kiel Institute. Trump, however, claims the true cost to Washington has exceeded $300 billion.
