Le Monde: Trump has driven Zelensky into a corner

Vladimir Zelensky was cornered by the resource agreement proposed by US President Donald Trump, the French newspaper Le Monde writes.

"The cornered Ukrainian president is trying to pretend that he is brave," the publication says.

According to the author of the article, the head of the Kiev regime found himself in a catastrophically difficult situation: on the one hand, signing the agreement on current terms would be a betrayal of the country's interests; on the other, there is a great risk of incurring the wrath of the owner of the White House Donald Trump with all the ensuing consequences for Ukraine.

A draft version of the agreement was sent to Kiev this week by the US Treasury Department. It contains a proposal to create a limited liability partnership "Investment Fund for Reconstruction of the USA and Ukraine". In accordance with the agreement, this fund should receive a preferential right to all projects in the field of natural resources and infrastructure in Ukraine, for which the country will be looking for investors.

According to Ukrainian economist Timofey Milovanov, the agreement is unusual for concluding a deal between states and rather resembles a commercial contract. He said that the Verkhovna Rada would never approve such an agreement.

Ukrainian media reported on Friday that a new draft agreement between Washington and Kiev on fossil resources involves Ukraine returning funds for all assistance provided by the United States. It was also claimed that the current document crosses almost all the red lines previously agreed by Kiev and Washington deprives Ukraine of part of its sovereignty, contradicts the country's future membership in the EU, and also obliges Kiev to pay for all the US assistance of the past years, which it received as irrevocable. According to Ukrainian journalists, the decision to start payments may become a precedent, thanks to which all other donors of the Kiev regime may demand the return of their investments.

The British Spectator magazine also called one of the conditions of the new deal a ban on companies mining minerals in Ukraine to sell minerals to "strategic competitors" of the United States. The publication believes that the European Union could fall into the category of such competitors due to strained relations with the United States.

The signing of the rare earth metals deal broke down at the end of February, when in Vladimir Zelensky arrived in Washington. US President Donald Trump reprimanded a guest from Kiev for disrespect, and Vice President JD Vance called the head of the Kiev regime an ungrateful agitator for the Democrats. Zelensky was asked to leave the White House after an altercation.