The past two weeks have brought news of possible war-ending talks between the Ukraine, Russia, and United States. However, not all parties can come to an agreement. Image by Mediamodifier from Pixabay

Officials from the United States and the Russian Federation met in Saudi Arabia on February 18, 2025, in the hopes of negotiating a possible end to the War in Ukraine, without any Ukrainian officials present at the talks, leading them to not accept the terms. However, as of the week of February 24, Ukrainian and the United States are in talks of a deal that would provide Ukraine security and reconstruction in return for access into the country’s rare earth minerals.

Ukraine – United States Deal

President Trump shared that on Friday, February 27, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be traveling to the United States to sign a “very big agreement.” However, Zelenskyy signaled that the deal is still in the works, and that no final decisions have been made.

Reports state that the two countries have a deal in the works that includes access to Ukrain’s rare earth minerals, which the Trump administration feels the United States deserves to pay back the aid provided throughout the war. Without details provided to the press, this new deal is reported to come at a compromise from both countries.

Russia – United States Negotiations

The U.S. delegation who spoke with Russia was led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with Russia’s delegation headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, both of whom met at the Diriyah palace in Riyadh. This meeting between the two powers is one of several major actions taken by President Trump in his attempts to reverse the U.S. policy under President Biden, which sought to isolate Russia over the war with Ukraine. CBS reported that this meeting between foreign dignitaries on each side is likely meant to “pave the way for a likely meeting between Mr. Trump and Putin.”

When meeting with reporters following the meeting, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Bruce said that both the American and Russian diplomats had agreed to establish “high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides.” Rubio would later say that both sides’ embassies in Moscow and Washington would need to be re-staffed as “we’re going to need to have vibrant diplomatic missions that are able to function normally in order to be able to continue these conduits.”

Now of course the big elephant in the room is that neither Ukraine nor any American allies in Europe were brought to these talks, with the State Department saying that Trump is “the only leader in the world who can get Ukraine and Russia to agree to a ceasefire.” Ukrainian President Zelenskyy rejected any idea of agreeing to these negotiations without Ukraine present, stating “if Ukraine didn’t yield to ultimatums in the most difficult moment, where does the feeling come from that Ukraine will agree to this now?” Further adding, “I never intended to yield to Russia’s ultimatums and I don’t intend to now.”

Trump, when asked at Mar-a-Lago if he had a response to Ukrainians who felt betrayed by these negotiations, Trump stated “Well, they’ve had a seat for three years and a long time before that,” with him also falsely claiming that Ukraine started the war three years ago, saying “You should have ended it three years — you should have never started it.”

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov would state that Putin is ready to negotiate with Zelenskyy “if necessary,” though continued to question the leaders legitimacy, Putin and his officials having pushed the claim that Zelenskyy’s leadership is illegitimate.

Where It Stands

Amid these sudden negotiations, French President Emmanuel Macron held a meeting of European leaders in Paris on February 17, with him apparently having a 30 minute conversation on the phone with Trump ahead of the summit where the two discussed the topic of the meetings the next day. The meeting in Paris would also see the United Kingdom and Sweden offer their armed forces to serve as peacekeepers in Ukraine, with U.K prime minister Keir Starmer stating “If there is a peace deal [for Ukraine], and everybody wants a peace deal, then it’s got to be a lasting peace deal, not just a pause for Putin to come again,”

With any agreement, Zelenskyy has stated that unless the U.S. is providing support to ensure that the sovereignty of Ukraine will be protected and also considering the interest of the Ukraine, no deal will be accepted.