Donald Trump has said Volodymyr Zelenskyy will head to Washington on Friday to sign a minerals agreement between the two countries. Follow this page for all the latest on the Ukraine war – and listen to The World podcast while you scroll.
Wednesday 26 February 2025 08:53, UK
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After a long time spent negotiating, it appears Ukraine and the US have agreed on a framework agreement for a minerals deal.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to head to Washington in the coming days to finalise the agreement.
A major sticking point in the deal, according to security and defence editor Deborah Haynes, was a demand from the US to get $500bn (£395bn) in potential revenue from accessing Ukrainian natural resources.
„Ukraine was very frustrated about what it viewed as overly onerous demands from the United States for its mineral wealth,“ she tells Sky News Breakfast presenter Wilfred Frost.
„That contentious figure of $500bn, we’re told, is no longer in the agreement.
„Also no longer in the agreement and has never been in the agreement is an explicit commitment from the US to provide security guarantees to Ukraine in the wake of this cease fire deal that Donald Trump says he wants to broker.
„This is something that Ukraine has repeatedly says is absolutely fundamental for it to be confident that Russia won’t just stop fighting, rearm and attack again, but would actually be genuinely deterred.“
By Ed Conway, economics and data editor
How much have America, Britain and the rest paid Ukraine in aid since the Russian invasion? And do they have any hope of getting money back in return?
These are big questions, and they’re likely to dominate much of the discussion in the coming months as Donald Trump pressurises his Ukrainian counterparts for a deal on ending the war. So let’s go through some of the answers.
First off, the question of who has given the most money to Ukraine rather depends on what you’re counting.
If you’re looking solely at the amount of military support extended since 2022, the US has provided €64bn, compared with €62bn from European nations (including the UK).
But now include other types of support, such as humanitarian and financial assistance, and European support exceeds American (€132bn in total, compared with €114bn from the US).
Divide Europe into its constituent nations, on the other hand, and none of them individually comes anywhere close to the US quantity of aid.
That being said, simple cash numbers aren’t an especially good measure of a country’s ability to pay…
Earlier, we reported on a Russian drone strike in the Kyiv region, which according to a regional govenor killed one person.
We now have images from a separate overnight attack, this time in Kharkiv.
Two people were injured as a result of a strike on an apartment building according to the city’s mayor.
Will Europe fill the defence vacuum left by the American withdrawal of support for the war in Ukraine? What will a mineral deal between Ukraine and America look like?
Richard and Yalda get together on the week of the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine to discuss these questions and more.
Richard records from a bombed-out hotel in Odesa in the south of Ukraine, where he has spent the week talking to those in the military and civilians to get their reaction to Trump beginning peace talks with Putin. Yalda reports on her latest discussions with diplomats and politicians from across the world.
To get in touch or to share questions for Richard and Yalda, email theworld@sky.uk.
Click here to visit their YouTube channel where you can watch all the episodes.
👉Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim on your podcast app👈
An overnight Russian drone attack on the Kyiv region has killed one person, injured at least four and set several houses on fire, says a regional governor.
The body of a civilian was found in a residential house that caught fire as a result of the attack, Mykola Kalashnyk wrote in a post on Telegram.
He said that at least four other people in the region were injured overnight and at least five homes and two multi-storey residential buildings were damaged in the attacks.
Across the whole of the country, Ukraine’s air defences shot down 110 of 177 drones launched by Russia, the air force said.
It added that 66 other drones were „lost“, in reference to the military’s use of electronic warfare to redirect them.
Elsewhere, the Russian defence ministry said a total of 128 Ukrainian drones were downed over Russia overnight.
Some 83 of those were destroyed over the country’s southern Krasnodar region in an attack that damaged several houses, Russian officials said.
Krasnodar’s governor said in a post on Telegram that three residential houses were damaged throughout the region, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
As we reported last night, Ukraine has agreed terms with the US on a crucial minerals deal.
Ukrainian officials have said Kyiv has agreed a framework for an economic deal with the US, under which they will trade rights to rare minerals in exchange for continued aid.
Donald Trump told reporters at the White House last night that he expects Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Friday to sign the agreement.
He said Zelenskyy is „coming to visit on Friday“ and said Ukraine’s president „would like to sign the minerals deal with me“.
„We have pretty much negotiated our deal on rare earths,“ he added.
The document reportedly does not provide one crucial request from Ukraine – a commitment from Washington to give security guarantees to Kyiv in the wake of any ceasefire deal with Vladimir Putin.
However, media reports say the document appears to have dropped a US demand to get $500bn (£395bn) in potential revenue from accessing Ukrainian natural resources.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna told the Financial Times that the minerals agreement „is only part of the picture“.
„We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture,“ she said.
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
We’ll be bringing you the latest developments on this live page throughout the day – before we begin, here’s a brief summary of the key updates over the past 24 hours:
We’re pausing our updates for now, but will be back with more in the morning.
Before we go, here’s a summary of today’s key developments:
Ukraine has agreed terms with the US on a crucial minerals deal, a Ukrainian government source has told Sky News, adding Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to travel to Washington on Friday to meet Donald Trump.
The source said that the date for the face-to-face meeting was proposed by the American side.
While signing executive orders at the White House this evening, Trump said the minerals deal has been „pretty much negotiated“.
Speaking more generally on peace negotiations, Trump said peacekeeping troops will be needed for Ukraine in „some form“.
The Kremlin today disputed Trump’s recent claim that Russia had accepted the prospect of peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, reiterating its stance that such a move would be „unacceptable“.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer announced UK defence spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 ahead of his meeting with Trump on Thursday.
Speaking in the Commons, he described Russia as „a menace in our waters, in our airspace and on our streets“ adding the UK must stand by Ukraine so that „tyrants“ like Putin do not respond to anything but strength.
More to bring you now on the UK’s decision to raise defence spending from around 2.3% of national income to 2.5% by 2027, which will be funded by cutting the overseas aid budget.
It comes just days before Sir Keir Starmer’s meeting with Donald Trump – who has been calling on NATO allies to boost defence spending – with the foreign aid budget falling from 0.5% to 0.3% as a result.
Starmer said „hard choices“ are required to fund the new spending plans, but added „the realities of our dangerous new era mean that the defence and national security must always come first“.
The announcement has not gone down well with charities…
UNICEF calls on Starmer to ‚urgently reconsider‘ decision
UNICEF has said it is „deeply concerned“ by the decision taken to reduce the aid budget, adding „these cuts will mean millions of children not having access to critical health care, not having enough to eat and missing out on their learning“.
It called on Starmer to either „urgently reconsider this decision“ or clarify how life-saving programmes will be protected from the cut.
Save the Children: ‚Solidarity has never been more important‘
In a statement, Save the Children said it is „stunned by the decision to cut the aid budget in order to increase military spending“.
The charity said the decision is a „betrayal of the world’s most vulnerable children and the UK’s national interest“.
„This decision comes at a time when global solidarity has never been more important,“ it added.
„Other countries will watch the UK’s decision and are likely to follow suit in reducing commitments to international collaboration.“
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Ukraine war latest: Trump expecting Zelenskyy in Washington on Friday to sign minerals deal – Sky News
