U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it’s ‘impossible to have an economic deal without a peace deal.’
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that an economic deal with Ukraine is not currently on the table after a heated exchange between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb. 28.
“President Trump’s idea for this economic arrangement was to further intertwine the American people and Ukrainian people and show no daylight,” Bessent told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan on March 2. “To show the Russian leadership that there was no daylight, and President Zelenskyy came into the Oval Office and tried to relitigate in front of the world the deal.”
The Feb. 28 meeting on the U.S.–Ukraine minerals agreement—which would see U.S. investment go into Ukraine to jointly develop the nation’s vast rare earth minerals resources and allow the United States access to $500 billion worth of deposits—escalated into a public argument between the two sides.
During the meeting, Zelenskyy said that he would not accept a cease-fire without security guarantees from the United States. He then suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t be trusted to honor a potential peace agreement because he had broken a cease-fire agreement 25 times.
Vice President JD Vance said in response that it was disrespectful for Zelenskyy to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate the deal in front of the American media, before suggesting that such discussion should be held behind closed doors. Trump and Vance then accused Zelenskyy of being ungrateful for U.S. support during the three years of the war that has been ongoing since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The meeting was cut short amid arguments, and the White House called off the deal signing. Zelenskyy was also asked to leave the White House.
Zelenskyy posted on March 1 on social media platform X that Ukraine is “ready to sign the minerals agreement” that will mark “the first step toward security guarantees” against any possible future Russian aggression.
Bessent suggested that Zelenskyy’s remarks at the Oval Office indicated an unwillingness to negotiate with Russia and went against the United States’ efforts to bring the two countries into negotiation to end the war.
Bessent told CBS News on March 2 that “it is impossible to have an economic deal without a peace deal” that will end Russia’s war in Ukraine. “I think we have to see if President Zelenskyy wants to proceed,” Bessent said.
“What’s the use in having an economic agreement that’s going to be rendered moot if he wants the fighting to continue. President Trump wants a peace deal.”
When asked whether the economic deal with Ukraine was still on the table, Bessent said: “Not at present.”
