The Kremlin has pointed out on Wednesday that there appears as yet no actual US-Ukraine mineral deal, even as President Zelensky is expected at the White House Friday to sign a finalized agreement.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow hasn't been confirmation that anything on this front has been reached. "So far, there are no official statements on this matter. We have only heard that Zelensky seemed to be going to Washington on Friday," Peskov told reporters.
He expressed doubt that anything final and with substance will be signed, saying "There will probably be attempts to make this visit somewhat substantive."
Zelensky's own words strongly suggests he's headed to Washington even though details have not been agreed to or fully worked out.
"This is a start, this is a framework agreement," Zelensky told reporters in his latest remarks. "This deal could be a great success or simply disappear. Whether it's a big success, I think, depends on our conversation with President Trump. We'll draw conclusions after."
Trump has articulated the minerals deal in a way that has raised fears of deep future US entanglement in Ukraine...
Zelensky wants security guarantees, but that's not what the draft says, only that the US "supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace," without making explicit commitments.
A Tuesday FT headlines said an agreement had been reached, and soon after Trump touted that Zelensky would be at the White House Friday to ink a final deal on rare earths and mineral access.
Most international reports agree that though Zelensky's visit to Washington looks certain, a final singed deal is still anything but certain, and remains up in the air:
Reports suggested a US request for $500bn (£395bn) in potential revenues from using Ukraine's natural resources had been dropped. But we also learnt that Ukrainian security guarantees had not made their way into the deal - something Kyiv has been pushing for.
Twenty-four hours later, little more is known. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenksy has said it's important that at least a "sentence" about guarantees is included, but US President Donald Trump reiterated his stance that such assurances should be made by Europe, Ukraine's "next door neighbor".
We do, however, know Trump and Zelensky will thrash out the terms of the agreement in a meeting in Washington DC on Friday. Trump said so during his first cabinet meeting - during which he also hinted at a possible Russia-Ukraine ceasefire, suggesting Russian President Vladimir Putin would need to make "concessions" for that to happen.
Journalist Michael Tracey has said, based on reviewing the draft, that the scope goes far beyond just minerals...
Tracey concluded, "This is sweeping enough that it could easily qualify as a Treaty requiring Senate Ratification but don't hold your breath for that."