Trump again predicts deal with Ukraine on minerals “soon”
Donald Trump said moments ago that he expects a US-Ukraine revenue-sharing agreement on Ukrainian critical minerals will be signed soon.
The US president also told reporters gathered at the White House as he met his Cabinet that the United States is talking to Ukraine about the potential for American firms owning Ukrainian power plants, Reuters reports.
Trump has been teasing such a deal for a few weeks, since before Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House late last month to talk about prospects for kick-starting the process towards a wide-ranging agreement ending Russia’s invasion of his country. It turned into a disastrous meeting in the Oval Office where he was excoriated by Trump and US vice president JD Vance, for seemingly being too assertive, and left early. The parties have since cooled off enough to begin versions of preliminary negotiations, from phone calls to talks now in Saudi Arabia.
Last Thursday Trump also said the US would sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine soon and that his efforts to achieve a peace deal for the country were going “pretty well” after his talks that week with Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Key events
Summary
Talks between the US and Russian delegations were taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as Donald Trump pushes to broker a limited ceasefire that Washington hopes will mark the first step toward lasting peace in Ukraine.
Ukraine and Russia have agreed in principle to a one-month halt on strikes on energy infrastructure after Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders last week. But uncertainty remains. We are pausing this live blog now. Here is the Guardian’s main story on the events of the day. We will continue to cover the talks as they happen in due course.
Here’s where things stand:
-
Donald Trump said again on Monday that he expects a US-Ukraine revenue-sharing agreement on Ukrainian critical minerals will be signed soon. The US president has been teasing such a deal for a few weeks.
-
Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal said the continuing Russian attacks on his country show that Moscow wants to go on with its “terror” despite the partial ceasefire agreed to last week. He said there were children among “casualties” in the latest assault.
-
A Russian missile attack on an industrial facility in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy on Monday damaged a residential area and a hospital, and injured at least 28 people. At least four children were among the injured, acting Sumy mayor Artem Kobzar said, without identifying the industrial facility.
-
The talks in Riyadh are centred on the safety of shipping in the Black Sea. Washington has been eyeing a Black Sea ceasefire deal, a major aim of Russia, before securing a wider agreement. The White House wants a maritime ceasefire to allow the free flow of shipping.
-
Moscow is interested in restoring a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain from its ports without being attacked, according to reports. If the deal is revived, Russia would export farm produce and fertiliser through the Black Sea, getting relief from sanctions imposed by western countries.
-
Moscow and Washington believe they have a common understanding on the need to move towards a settlement to end the war. However, Reuters reported that there are still many different aspects of that to be worked out.
-
Sunday’s talks between Ukraine and the US were technical, related to infrastructure and shipping safety, but “productive and focused” and the Kyiv delegation remains in Saudi Arabia. Ukrainian adviser Serhiy Leshchenko says further talks could take place with the US.
-
The Kremlin says a suspension on strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, agreed in the Putin-Trump phone call last Tuesday, remains in place. At least seven people were killed in a barrage of strikes from more than 140 drones across Ukraine on Sunday, according to local officials and emergency services.
A war correspondent for Russia’s main pro-Kremlin newspaper, Izvestia, was killed in Ukraine on Monday, the outlet announced.
Izvestia correspondent Alexander Fedorchak was killed in the zone of the special military operation,” Izvestia said, using Moscow’s propaganda term for its invasion of its southern neighbor and the resulting three-year old war.
The man was killed in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
The publicity sheet said that its correspondent died “in the Kupyansk direction” – a city that has been under intense Russian attack and where Russian forces have been advancing.
His last report was broadcast literally the day before,” Izvestia said on its website.
Izvestia was previously a Soviet organ focusing on foreign affairs.
Russian war correspondent from “Izvestia” Alexander Fedorchak has been killed in the combat zone on the Kharkiv front in Ukraine.
“Izvestia” informed about it on Monday. pic.twitter.com/s7VIgEjhu0
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (BlueSky too) (@Archer83Able) March 24, 2025
Donald Trump previously told Volodymyr Zelenskyy, last Wednesday, that the US could own and run Ukrainian nuclear power plants as part of a ceasefire.
The Ukrainian president said, following their call, that “we talked only about one power plant, which is under Russian occupation”, referring to Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power station.
The Guardian has reported that both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy would not be in favor and Trump’s idea is not realistic.
Such is the nuclear power station’s importance that it was seized by Russia within the first month of fighting and has remained on the frontline ever since. Electricity generation was halted in September 2022 – it is simply too dangerous and too many prewar employees had fled. All six reactors have been in cold shutdown (running below boiling point) since April last year.
Experts in Ukraine speculate that Trump’s interest in Zaporizhzhia is because Kyiv has told the US it would be a source of cheap local energy that could be used to power the mining and processing plants as part of the rare earths and minerals extraction deal it hopes to sign with the White House.
Read more here.
The talks in Riyadh have consisted so far of a US delegation meeting with Ukrainian officials on Sunday and with Russian officials today.
Discussions have focused mostly on a limited ceasefire to allow security for shipping using the Black Sea to and from Ukraine, but Donald Trump said at the White House moments ago that other issues are coming up, as he pushes for a halt to Russia’s three-year war against Ukraine, Reuters further reports.
We’re talking about territory right now. We’re talking about lines of demarcation, Talking about power, power plant ownership. Some people are saying the United States should own the power plant…because we have the expertise,” he said.
Talk in recent days has centered on whether there could be a suspension of attacks on power infrastructure, then leading to a temporary ceasefire and ultimately a peace deal.
Trump again predicts deal with Ukraine on minerals “soon”
Donald Trump said moments ago that he expects a US-Ukraine revenue-sharing agreement on Ukrainian critical minerals will be signed soon.
The US president also told reporters gathered at the White House as he met his Cabinet that the United States is talking to Ukraine about the potential for American firms owning Ukrainian power plants, Reuters reports.
Trump has been teasing such a deal for a few weeks, since before Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House late last month to talk about prospects for kick-starting the process towards a wide-ranging agreement ending Russia’s invasion of his country. It turned into a disastrous meeting in the Oval Office where he was excoriated by Trump and US vice president JD Vance, for seemingly being too assertive, and left early. The parties have since cooled off enough to begin versions of preliminary negotiations, from phone calls to talks now in Saudi Arabia.
Last Thursday Trump also said the US would sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine soon and that his efforts to achieve a peace deal for the country were going “pretty well” after his talks that week with Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Meanwhile, Downing Street said that UK prime minister Keir Starmer is not worried about remarks made by the White House special envoy about the coalition of the willing.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson was asked if there were worries after Steve Witkoff’s remark that Starmer’s plans were a “combination of a posture and a pose” in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “No, the PM has repeatedly said that a lasting peace in Ukraine can only be achieved if we provide real and credible security assurances to deter Putin.
“And the coalition of the willing is a group of nations politically aligned to the defence, security and sovereignty of Ukraine … if there is a deal, it’s a deal that has to be defended.”
Downing Street said it is continuing to keep the US updated on military planning meetings.
Asked if there is a specific moment when the coalition of the willing’s plans will be presented to Donald Trump, the British prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “These conversations are happening the whole time between the US, UK and other allies.
“Ahead of, following these military planning meetings, political leaders meetings, we’re continuing to update US and debrief them on these discussions.
“It’s happening at the same time as the US-led talks in Riyadh as well.
“I wouldn’t think of these things necessarily in a kind of linear sequence … I think there’s lots of conversations happening.
“And clearly we’ll be keeping the US closely updated on the development in relation to the coalition of the willing, much like they’re obviously keeping us closely updated on the status of the talks out in Riyadh.”
Reuters is reporting that the Russian missile attack on Sumy – the administrative centre of the northeastern Sumy region in Ukraine – injured at least 74 people.
The attack was reported to have occurred around 14:00 local time (12:00 GMT) and, according to acting mayor Artem Kobzar, targeted residential areas and infrastructure facilities.
The head of the Sumy regional administration, Volodymyr Artyukh, has been quoted by BBC News as saying Russia “launched a rocket strike on the city centre” and damaged several high-rise buildings and a school.
“The children were in a protective structure and were evacuated,” he said, confirming they were all alive.
Russian attack on Sumy shows Moscow wants to ‘continue its terror on Ukraine’ – PM
The regional prosecutor’s office has said that at least 65 people, including 14 children, have been injured after the Russian attack on a residential area of Sumy, in the northeast of Ukraine.
As we mentioned in an earlier post, local officials previously put the injured number at 28. We have not been able to independently verify either figure yet.
In a post on X, Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal said the continuing Russian attacks show that Moscow wants to continue its “terror” despite the partial ceasefire agreed to last week. He said there were children among “casualties” in the Sumy attack.
Shmyhal wrote:
Ukraine is striving for peace, and Russia is once again showing that it wants to continue the terror. The international community must increase the pressure on Russia to stop the aggression and ensure justice and save the lives of Ukrainians.
russia attacked the civilian infrastructure in Sumy. Residential and private houses in particular were damaged. There are casualties, including children.
Units of the State Emergency Service are on the ground. They are removing the consequences of the enemy attacks and providing… pic.twitter.com/8GdLTKtzK7— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) March 24, 2025
Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy have already agreed to a partial ceasefire covering energy and civilian infrastructure – but both Moscow and Kyiv have accused the other of violating the agreement.
Grigory Karasin, a former diplomat who negotiated the 2014 Minsk accords between Russia and Ukraine and a participant in Monday’s talks in Riyadh, told the Interfax news agency the negotiations were going on in a “creative way” and that the US and Russian delegations “understand each other’s views”.
He is part of a negotiation team that includes Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the head of the Russia’s FSB security agency.
The American delegation is being led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House national security council, and Michael Anton, a senior state department official.
