Ukrainian Pres. Zelensky: “Will NEVER Accept Decisions Between U.S. & Russia About Ukraine”; Or, Will He?

Suddenly the prospect of a U.S. brokered end to the war in Ukraine has broken into the news cycle in a big way.

On one hand, President Trump seems to be doing what he promised on the campaign trail.

For the last few weeks, the majority of the noise coming from the Trump administration had to do with DOGE, gutting an over fattened government, and shutting down the Deep State actors still intent on causing problems.

Now, a negotiation frenzy intent on leveraging American assets, projecting American power, and making strategic concessions leading to an end of hostilities between Russian and Ukraine seems to be in full swing.

But not everyone is happy.

Neither the Europeans, nor President Zelensky of Ukraine, seem particularly happy with President Trump’s push for peace — of whom they would be the primary benefactors.

Though it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the particulars of some future plan, as much as… everyone else feels left out!

Zelensky has pushed back over the last couple of days with media interviews where he seemed to strike a conciliatory tone on one hand, yet drew hard lines meant for President Trump’s ears.

During one such interview with NBC News’ host Kristen Welker over the weekend, Zelensky stated matter-of-factly that he would never agree to a deal reached between the United States and Russia concerning Ukraine.

Here’s a clip of that interview when he was asked if he had any assurances that Ukraine would have an equal seat at the negotiating table with Russia and the US:

NOW – Zelensky: “I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine. Never.”pic.twitter.com/mPTfLgJzO8

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) February 16, 2025

Unbelievably, President Zelensky clearly stated during the same interview that Ukraine would have a “low chance to survive” without U.S. support.

That is primarily support from military and financial angles which have thus far helped keep the Ukrainian government and military standing on their feet.

Here’s that clip:

ZELENSKEYY: "We will have a low chance to survive without support of the United States." pic.twitter.com/WV5TBcPQ65

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 16, 2025

It strikes me as very presumptuous of the Ukrainian President — who admittedly would not be able to hold back the Russian onslaught without U.S. support — to dismiss out of hand any turn of events that the United States may be able to bring about.

Say, for instance, an end of hostilities.

If President Trump were to negotiate an end of warfare with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf… would Zelensky seriously refuse to sign on the dotted line, even if such an agreement demanded a certain amount of land conceded which is currently occupied by Russian forces?

Would President Zelensky refuse to accept that U.S. brokered agreement… when the United States is singularly responsible for keeping the nation of Ukraine alive all these long months?

It crosses my mind that he might indeed refuse — if his European handlers would rather keep hostilities going with some other end in mind.

It also crosses my mind that President Trump could turn the money spigots off, and wish Zelensky good luck with his European backers.

Zelensky already instructed his team to outright reject any proposal by the Trump administration that would include a deal for mining Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, according to a report by NBC:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told his aides to reject Trump administration officials’ proposal that would grant the United States significant access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, a Ukrainian official close to Zelenskyy confirmed to NBC News.

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U.S. officials said the proposal would be a form of repayment for the support Washington has provided Kyiv since its war with Russia began, but according to the aide close to him, Zelenskyy did not feel the agreement included adequate security guarantees for Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent first proposed the draft agreement, which would have granted the United States 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, to Zelenskyy last week, NBC News reported.

“I didn’t let the ministers sign a relevant agreement because in my view it is not ready to protect us, our interest,” Zelenskyy said at the Munich Security Conference in a quote first reported by The Associated Press on Saturday.

A U.S. official called Zelenskyy’s response to the offer “short-sighted,” adding that it would secure an “enduring partnership” between the two countries.

“Binding economic ties with the United States will be the best guarantee against future aggression and an integral part of lasting peace. The U.S. recognizes this, the Russians recognize this, and the Ukrainians must recognize this,” the official said.

U.S. officials briefed on the proposal signaled an openness to deploying American troops to Ukraine to guard the minerals — but only after a deal with Russia to end the war was agreed to.

As NBC reported, President Trump is including in his peace dealings a plan to recoup a lot of the money the U.S. gave to Ukraine for defense.

Though Zelensky reported that he barred his people from signing any deal to that effect, President Trump said just a few days ago that the Ukrainians have basically agreed to that deal in essence.

Here’s a clip of President Trump explaining that situation during his pre-Super Bowl interview with Bret Baier:

BREAKING: President Trump says Ukraine has agreed to repay the aid by giving the United States $500 billion in rare earth minerals.

"They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas. I want to have our money secured because we're spending… pic.twitter.com/JUIcAa8AsS

— George (@BehizyTweets) February 11, 2025

Here’s the full text of that post with a full screen version of the video as backup:

BREAKING: President Trump says Ukraine has agreed to repay the aid by giving the United States $500 billion in rare earth minerals.

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“They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas. I want to have our money secured because we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars.”

“They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday (😂), but we’re going to have all this money in there. And I say I want it back.”

“And I told them that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion worth of rare earth. And they’ve essentially agreed to do that. So, at least we don’t feel stupid otherwise, we’re stupid.”

This is the Art of the Deal at work.

BREAKING: President Trump says Ukraine has agreed to repay the aid by giving the United States $500 billion in rare earth minerals.

“They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas. I want to have our money secured because we’re spending… pic.twitter.com/JUIcAa8AsS

— George (@BehizyTweets) February 11, 2025

It seems rather likely that President Trump is about to recoup something like $500 billion in U.S. aid provided to Ukraine in the form of rare earth minerals.

Ukrainian officials conceded that Zelensky has long backed exchanging ‘critical resources’ for continued U.S. support, according to the afore referenced NBC news article:

President Donald Trump said in a recent interview with Fox News that he wanted the United States to get $500 billion worth of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals and that Kyiv “essentially agreed to do so.”

Ukraine has some of the world’s largest reserves of titanium and iron ore, both of which are used to make a variety of technology products. Many of the minerals, however, are in areas now controlled by Russian troops, according to U.S. officials.

Ukrainian officials have said Zelenskyy has long backed the idea of exchanging “critical resources” for continued U.S. support, calling the idea part of the “Victory Plan” that he presented to Trump at a meeting last fall.

Though Zelensky just said no Ukrainians would be heading to Saudi Arabia for the talks between the U.S. and Russia…

Yesterday, he and his wife flew into the UAE unexpectedly, apparently in preparation for those very talks.

Zelensky, who yesterday said that no Ukrainians would fly to Saudi Arabia, flew to the UAE with his wife pic.twitter.com/Updot09Hq1

— Sprinter Observer (@SprinterObserve) February 16, 2025

Though Saudi Arabia was the expected locations for the U.S. brokered talks with Moscow, the UAE has been discussed as a possible site.

It could be that we are seeing negotiations that will effectively move the peace talks from Saudi Arabia to the UAE simply as a means to allow Zelensky to appear to maintain a position of strength.

Though… I’m not sure if anyone is buying that at this point.

He arrived in Abu Dhabi immediately following the Munich Security Conference, according to ABC News:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the United Arab Emirates late Sunday as momentum grows for potential peace talks ending Moscow’s war on the country.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week suggested he would be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia. The UAE, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, long has been floated as a possible site for peace talks as well given the large population of Russian and Ukrainian expatriates who have flooded the country since the war began, and due to the Emirates’ work on prisoner exchanges in the past.

Zelenskyy arrived in Abu Dhabi after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany. Footage released by his office showed him and his wife, Olena Zelenska, being greeted by an Emirati official and honor guard at the airport late Sunday night.

The United Arab Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency did not immediately report on Zelenskyy’s arrival, which was unusual.

It wasn’t immediately clear what his agenda would be while he was in the country, though Abu Dhabi is hosting its biennial International Defense Exhibition and Conference arms show this week, where both Ukraine and Russia have displayed arms — even as Moscow faces Western sanctions over the war.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead a delegation to Saudi Arabia this week for direct talks with Russian officials over the war. The outreach and Trump’s direct call with Putin have upended years of U.S. policy under Biden that isolated Moscow over its Feb. 24, 2022, full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It is highly possible that President Trump has backed Zelensky into a corner in order to ensure his ability to get the Ukrainian President to sign off on the peace deal.

While Russia is extremely eager to end the fighting, Ukraine — having sustained terrible losses — seems far to eager to continue fighting, considering that they are a nation relying on others at this point for for all their beans, bullets, and bandaids.

This is a developing story, and the purpose of Zelensky’s unexpected visit to the UAE along with his wife is not known at this time.

We will bring you updates as the situation develops, though it appears that President Trump may be nearing an endgame on stopping the war, just as he promised.