video shows Oval Office shouting match

“A summit without delay is needed between the United States, European states and their allies to talk frankly about how we intend to tackle today’s major challenges, starting with Ukraine, which together we have defended in recent years.”

Trump has been reported to be weighing whether to halt all US military aid to Ukraine in the wake of his Oval Office clash with Zelensky.

The move would block billions of dollars in ammunition, missiles, vehicles and other military equipment that had been awaiting shipment to Ukraine, according to John Hudson, a Washington Post national security reporter, citing a senior Trump administration official.

The official denied claims that Trump’s combative approach had been premeditated.

Trump, who made his name with the American public on The Apprentice, the heavily scripted hire-or-fire television programme that turned bullying into a form of entertainment, effectively “fired” Zelensky in their heated Oval Office meeting.

By doing so, he confirmed all the unspoken doubts of the US’s European partners.

Unlike Macron and Starmer, who used flattery and the gentlest of critical rebuke in their audiences, Zelensky faced open hostility by being dismissed as a “dictator” and was pressured to sign over Ukraine’s mineral wealth without security guarantees.

• Read in full: Trump fired Zelensky like he was a loser on The Apprentice

A luncheon that had been planned to celebrate the signing of a US-Ukraine economic partnership went ahead after Zelensky was banished from the White House by Trump.

Instead of welcoming the Ukrainian delegation, White House aides were invited to dine on spring green salad, rosemary roasted chicken with celery root puree and asparagus greens.

A crème brûlée with assorted berries and citrus tuile was served for dessert.

“The luncheon with President Trump and his GREAT (US) TEAM went on this afternoon,” Dan Scavino, the White House deputy chief of staff, wrote in a post on X.

“With some open seats … President Trump invited some additional team members from the West Wing. Thank you, POTUS & VP!”

Justin Trudeau, the outgoing prime minister of Canada, pledged his country’s continuing commitment to helping Ukraine achieve a “just and lasting peace”.

“Russia illegally and unjustifiably invaded Ukraine,” Trudeau wrote on X. “For three years now, Ukrainians have fought with courage and resilience. Their fight for democracy, freedom, and sovereignty is a fight that matters to us all.”

Trudeau announced in January he would step down after nine years in power amid diminishing support for his premiership. Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada and turn it into the 51st US state.

Viktor Orban, the authoritarian prime minister of Hungary, broke ranks with other European leaders to praise Trump for his combative display in the Oval Office.

“Strong men make peace, weak men make war,” Orban wrote on X. “Today President Donald Trump stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest. Thank you, Mr President!”

Orban has been a reliable ally for the Kremlin since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

After winning the last Hungarian elections in 2022, he cited Zelensky as among the opponents he had defeated in the campaign.

Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said he was “sickened” at the way Trump had treated Zelensky in their Oval Office confrontation.

“And to think the bust of Winston Churchill was in the same room as it unfolded,” Jenrick wrote in a post on X. “He would be turning in his grave if he saw that happen.”

Jenrick added that Zelensky had shown sincere gratitude for the support offered by Ukraine’s allies.

“We salute him and the courageous Ukrainians as they fight for freedom against Russian imperialism.”

Zelensky is set to travel to London tomorrow with 16 other European leaders for a conference on Sunday at Lancaster House hosted by Sir Keir Starmer.

The meeting was originally planned to focus on a response to the US peace proposals. President Macron, Olaf Scholz, the outgoing German chancellor, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, and Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, are expected to attend.

Zelensky has cancelled an appearance at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington DC that was scheduled to take place this afternoon.

Zelensky was due to deliver remarks on securing a lasting peace for Ukraine.

The move follows the Ukrainian president’s combative meeting with Trump and JD Vance in the Oval Office earlier on Friday. The US president berated Zelensky for showing insufficient gratitude and respect during what was intended to be a cordial question and answer session with media.

A deep sense of anxiety was hanging over Ukraine on Friday night, Lesia Vasylenko, a member of parliament, told Times Radio.

There had been high hopes that the White House meeting could have brought a peace agreement after three years of full-scale war with Russia.

“But instead, I think we just witnessed a round of escalation,” she said. “It’s not diplomacy as in its classical form. It’s rather a bullying show.”

She said the view from Ukraine was that it appeared to be a “show” put on by Trump for the Russians.

“We see already a show of support from every single leader who has publicly made it clear that Ukraine is the victim and Russia is the aggressor and that Europe will stand behind Ukraine,” Vasylenko added.

The US state department this week cancelled an initiative that has provided hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, according to NBC News.

The Ukraine Energy Security Project had been run through the US Agency for International Development to shore up Ukraine’s power grid, which has been under near-constant attack by the Russian military during the three-year war.

The decision came before Friday’s confrontation between Zelensky and Trump. The US has slashed its foreign aid investments as part of cost-cutting and efficiency efforts.

Several European leaders have spoken out in solidarity with Ukraine.

In a post on X Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said: “Your dignity honours the bravery of the Ukrainian people. Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone, dear President @ZelenskyyUa. We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace.”

Friedrich Merz, whose Christian Democrat party won last week’s German elections, said his nation would “stand with Ukraine in good and in testing times … We must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war.”

Similar messages of support were posted by Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, Kęstutis Budrys, the Lithuanian foreign minister, and Sweden’s foreign ministry.

Neither Sir Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, nor David Lammy, the foreign secretary, have issued a statement.

Zelensky spoke to President Macron of France by telephone after leaving the White House, according to the Financial Times.

Macron, who is on a state visit to Portugal, told reporters after the Oval Office meeting: “There’s an aggressor, which is Russia, and a people attacked, which is Ukraine. We must thank all those who helped and respect those who have been fighting since the beginning.”

One senior US military official claimed that the confrontation between Trump and Zelensky appeared to be a deliberate strategy by the US leader.

“I think, frankly, Trump will come away and feel pretty good about this,” Jim Townsend, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for Europe and Nato, told Times Radio. “He loves good television, and he loves to throw red meat to his followers. And this is just a great example of that.”

Townsend added that it was rare to see such public animus between two world leaders. “It was like a bar room brawl,” he said. “It was brutal in the sense that, for all the public to see, we saw these two heads of state battling each other with verbal fists and we’re not used to seeing that.”

Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, said he was unsure if a US-Ukraine deal could be salvaged after the scenes in the Oval Office earlier.

“I just think there’s no way the president could have signed that deal given the way he and JD and our country were treated,” Graham told Fox News. “I don’t know if you can put it back together, I don’t know if you can repair the damage.”

Graham said he had warned Zelensky “not to take the bait” when they met earlier on Friday. “If I were him I would profusely apologise for the way he treated our president and the vice-president in the Oval Office and show a little bit of gratitude for what the American people have done.”

What started as a cordial meeting in the Oval Office quickly devolved into a heated shouting match. JD Vance, sitting next to Trump, accused Zelensky of failing to express gratitude to the US, saying: “You have not said thank you once.”

Zelensky responded sharply, “From the very beginning of the war, we’ve been alone, and we are thankful. I said thanks.”

• Read Will Pavia’s sketch in full: The shouting match was ‘great television’. Was that the point?

During that heated Oval Office encounter, Trump claimed the US had provided Ukraine with $350 billion in military equipment.

It is a figure that the president has used repeatedly in citing an apparent imbalance in support offered to Kyiv when compared with its European allies. But the figure is at odds with Zelensky’s tally, along with calculations made by US government agencies and western think tanks.

Congress has appropriated a total of $175 billion for Ukraine in the three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, according to the Congressional Research Service. That figure covers the amount provided through US military training and replenishment of US defence stocks.

The Kiel Institute, a German think tank, has been tracking US investments in Ukraine, and has said that about $120 billion of the appropriated funds had been allocated between February 2022 and December last year. The US is by far the largest single country donor to Ukraine. But European contributions combined come to around $139 billion, according to the Kiel Institute.

The US president clashed with President Zelensky earlier today in the Oval Office leaving a potential minerals deal with Ukraine in limbo and complicating relations between the two countries.

But how has Trump been delivering on his key pledges — and has he been more popular in his second term so far? We’re keeping track of the data on his performance.

• Read in full: Tracking President Trump’s second term performance

Zelensky is still expected to sit down for an interview with Fox News later this evening.

“We are still on for the interview we are told,” Bret Baier, a Fox anchor, wrote on X.

The interview is expected to air in the 6pm hour (11pm UK time).

Before that, the Ukrainian president is due to deliver remarks at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington DC, at 4pm (9pm UK time).

Zelensky has thanked Trump in his first public comment since the two leaders clashed in their Oval Office meeting earlier today.

“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people,” he wrote in a conciliatory post on X. “Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”

Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, vowed to stand by Ukraine after the confrontational meeting between Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office.

“Dear @ZelenskyyUa, dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone,” Tusk wrote on X.

President Macron of France and Sir Keir Starmer both had productive meetings with Trump this week that had appeared to lay the groundwork for a US-Ukraine partnership over rare earth minerals.

But Trump appeared to rule out coming to an agreement after he accused Zelensky of not displaying sufficient gratitude to the US.

Catherine Philp, World Affairs Editor

Public reaction in Ukraine was one of shock, on a day when most fears were focused on whether Zelensky would sign away Ukraine’s mineral wealth for lesser security guarantees than would be needed to fend off Russian aggression. Instead Ukraine’s leader was kicked out of the White House with no agreement on anything at all.

“I cannot imagine the pressure our president is under,” Kira Rudik, the leader of Ukraine’s opposition Holos party, said. “I wish him wisdom and the knowledge his country is behind him.”

White House aides and cabinet officials have lauded Trump for his Oval Office bust up with Zelensky.

Elon Musk, who is advising Trump on government cost-cutting efforts, wrote that Zelensky “destroyed himself in the eyes of the American people” in a post on X.

Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, thanked the president for “standing up for the American people and our nation on the global stage”.

Margo Martin, a special assistant to the president, wrote that Trump and Vance would “always stand for America and those who respect our position in the world”. “America will never be taken advantage of,” she wrote.

The Defence Department’s rapid response account on X thanked Trump for “standing up not only for America, but for the American warfighter”.

Zelensky has departed from the White House in his presidential convoy.

He arrived about two hours and 20 minutes earlier with high hopes of securing an agreement to partner with the US over rare earth minerals and oil and gas reserves.

But after that shouting exchange with Trump and Vance, he left with the deal in limbo.

Zelensky ignored the shouted questions of several reporters asking what had happened.

White House sources confirmed to Semafor that Zelensky had been asked to leave by Trump.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the former Ukrainian prime minister, told Times Radio that champagne corks were “already popping” in the Kremlin after the angry confrontation between Trump and Zelensky.

Yatsenyuk described the situation as “the worst case scenario” after Trump appeared to rule out a deal to partner with Ukraine to access its natural resources.

“Now we need new mediators, new envoys to the White House, somehow to repair the damage,” he said. “I can reiterate that I know for sure who is happy right now: war criminal Putin. And he’s not the only one. The gang of godfathers, the axis of evil.”

Analysis by David Charter

This was the least diplomatic display by a foreign leader invited into the US president’s inner sanctum ever seen and, although some Ukraine supporters will give Zelensky plaudits for standing his ground, he unwisely kept coming back for more.

The results were clear for the world to see — Vance and Trump were both visibly furious, and the task of fighting for a strong deal for Ukraine just got a lot harder.

The war of words raged for a full ten minutes. It was sparked by Trump positioning himself as a broker standing midway between Russia and Ukraine, instead of coming out, as the Europeans have, firmly in the Ukrainian camp.

What Zelensky failed to appreciate was that Trump feels this is the best positioning to bring both sides to the table and coax compromises out of them. Trump had sent positive signals to Zelensky earlier in the meeting by refusing to repeat his calls for the Ukrainian leader to face an election.

Trump said Zelensky was “not ready for peace” in his first statement since their fiery meeting, and appeared to rule out a deal with the Ukrainian president. “We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure.

“It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

The planned joint press conference between Zelensky and Trump has been cancelled, according to a White House official.

Trump erupted towards the end of the meeting when he was asked by a reporter what would happen if Russia breaks the terms of the peace deal.

“What if a bomb drops on your head right now?” Trump fired back at the reporter. “They broke it with Biden, because Biden, they didn’t respect him. They didn’t respect Obama. They respect me,” he said, referring to the Russians.

Trump added that “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me”. “He went through a phoney witch-hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia,” adding it was a “Democrat scam”.

“He was accused of all that stuff he had nothing to do with. It came out of Hunter Biden’s bathroom. It came out of Hunter Biden’s bedroom. It was disgusting.”

Penny Mordaunt, the former UK defence secretary, said that she hoped cooler heads would prevail after that extraordinary exchange between Zelensky, Trump and Vance.

Speaking to Times Radio, Mordaunt said the argument had appeared to be an effort to put pressure on Zelensky and send a clear message of their uncompromising stance to a sceptical US public.

“This is part of the negotiating tactics that the United States is using,” she said. “I don’t think you would have had that unless they wanted to put pressure on Zelensky and also send a message to their domestic audience.”

She said that compared to what the Ukrainians go through on a daily basis, the shouting match was “nothing”. “[Zelensky is] a tough guy and he’s going to do the right thing for his nation. We can help him do that, we have to now step up.”

In a sign of how that furious exchange was viewed by the Ukrainians, Oksana Markarova, the ambassador to the United States, held her head in her hands as she watched Zelensky argue with Vance and Trump in the Oval Office.

Negotiations to reach an economic partnership appear to be in jeopardy after the press conference descended into a shouting match.

Trump told Zelensky that “it’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this” as they argued and interjected over one another.

“The problem is, I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy, and I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States,” Trump said. “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but you’ll fight it out, but you don’t have the cards, but once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position, but you’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing.”

Trump ended the press conference, saying “this is going to be great television”.

The meeting descended into a heated shouting match between Zelensky, Trump and JD Vance, his vice-president.

As Zelensky criticised Putin for backtracking on previous deals, Trump insisted that the Russian president would honour any agreements. Trump became angered that Zelensky had not thanked the US for its ongoing support.

“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country, Mr President,” Vance said. “Mr President, with respect. I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”

Trump accused Zelensky of gambling with “World War Three”, adding that he was in no position to dictate terms of a peace agreement.

“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people,” Trump told the Ukrainian leader. “You’re gambling with World War Three, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.”

He added that Zelensky should be thanking the US for its support.

“Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country,” he said. “Your country is in big trouble. I know you’re not winning. You’re not winning this.”

Zelensky appeared to have brought the WBC heavyweight title belt won by Oleksandr Usyk when he defeated Tyson Fury in May last year.

In February, Zelensky told Trump during a phone call between the leaders that he would give him the Ukrainian heavyweight boxer’s belt. Usyk, 38, has held the unified world heavyweight championship since 2021. He defeated Fury for a second time during their rematch in Saudi Arabia in December.

Trump has a decades-long interest in boxing, having organised fights throughout the 1980s and beyond at his casino complex in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Asked about the value of a potential joint economic partnership, Zelensky said the total amount remained unclear but that it would be worth a “lot of money”.

He said that Ukraine held a large amount of oil and gas reserves, but that he was uncertain about the value of its rare earth mineral deposits.

What minerals Ukraine does possess are protected by environmental laws, he said, adding: “But that can be unprotected.”

Zelensky vowed there would be “no compromises” with Russia while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office.

The Ukrainian president stressed the importance of continuing US aid to the war effort, and said he was counting on Trump’s help to stop Putin.

“I hope that together we can stop him. But for us, [it’s] very important to save our country, our values, our freedom, democracy. And, of course, no compromises,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky brought photographs of Ukrainian prisoners of war to his meeting with Trump.

The two leaders are set to hold talks on making future US aid to Ukraine conditional on a deal to share its rare earth minerals and oil reserves.

Trump has sought to cast the deal as a potential economic windfall for the US, and insisted that the country would not provide security guarantees in the event that a ceasefire agreement with Russia is reached.

Trump confirmed the mineral deal with Ukraine will be signed today, adding “we have something that is a very fair deal”.

“It is a big commitment from the US,” he said. Zelensky said he hopes “this document will be a step forward for Ukraine”.

The Ukrainian president also told reporters he wants to discuss what the US is “ready to do” during his meeting with Trump.

Trump ignored a person from the public asking “do you have a message for Vladimir Putin today?” as he ushered Zelensky into the West Wing of the White House, saying “thank you very much” to the watching media scrum.

As Zelensky stepped out of his presidential limo, Trump pointed at the Ukrainian president, turned to the cameras and said: “He’s all dressed up nice today.”

Zelensky wore a black button-up military sweatshirt bearing the insignia of the Ukrainian trident, a three-pronged spear that is Ukraine’s national symbol.

Trump was dressed in a dark blue suit with a light blue shirt and a red tie.

President Zelensky has arrived at the White House for talks with the US president, about 25 minutes later than had been scheduled.

Trump greeted the Ukrainian leader with a handshake, before the two leaders posed for photos.

Service members carrying the flags of all 56 US states and territories, along with US and Ukrainian flags, lined the entrance to the White House to welcome the Ukrainian president.

The two leaders are expected to hold a joint press conference at 1pm ET (6pm UK time).

Earlier on Friday, the Ukrainian president met with several US senators. He is expected to address the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, this evening.

The two leaders have had a bumpy relationship since Zelensky, 47, was elected president in 2019.

In November, Zelensky congratulated Trump for his election victory, saying that he admired the US leader’s “commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach in global affairs”.

Those cordial relations deteriorated in recent weeks after Trump called Zelensky a “dictator” with low poll numbers, a barb he appeared to walk back while meeting Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday.

Zelensky said last week that Trump was “living in a disinformation space”.

The two leaders have met several times in recent months. They spoke at the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in December. Zelensky also flew to New York in September for a meeting at Trump Tower, where they discussed a strategic partnership between the two countries.

Before leaving Kyiv this week, President Zelensky described a deal for the joint ownership with the US of his country’s natural resources as a “framework”.

Zelensky said he wanted to discuss the countries’ relationship further in person with President Trump.

A revised version of the deal, which was approved by the Ukrainian cabinet on Wednesday, called for the establishment of a US-Ukraine reconstruction investment fund. Ukraine said it would move 50 per cent of its future oil, gas and mineral revenues into the fund, which would be used to redevelop the country.

Once an initial deal is formally agreed to, the two countries will negotiate a “subsequent agreement” over control of the investment fund and its operation. Trump has insisted that US security guarantees would not be part of the agreement, arguing that Europe should be responsible for maintaining a potential ceasefire agreement with Russia.

JD Vance, the US vice-president, urged Catholics to consider how their faith could help bring about peace around the world during a speech at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC on Friday.

“We very often ignore the way in which our foreign policy is either an instrument or an impediment to people all over the world being able to practice their faith,” Vance said. “When President Trump talks about the need to bring peace, whether it’s in Russia and Ukraine, whether it’s in the Middle East, we of course have to recognise that as a policy oriented to saving lives and carrying out one of Christ’s most important commandments,” he added.

Vance was speaking ahead of the meeting between Trump and Zelensky at the White House.

President Trump is said to be planning to sign an executive order recognising English as the official language of the United States.

The text of the order said it is intended to promote unity, civic engagement and efficiency in government, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The order would reverse a Clinton-era mandate that required agencies which receive federal funding to translate for non-English speakers.

English is by far the most common language spoken in the US, with more than 250 million native speakers.

In a sign of further thawing in the US-Russia relationship, Moscow has approved the appointment of a new ambassador to the United States.

The Russian foreign ministry said that it had approved Alexander Darchiyev as its new chief diplomat in the US, filling a role that had been vacant since the last ambassador left in October.

The respective embassies of both countries have been crippled by several rounds of expulsions in recent years.

Senior diplomats from the two countries held talks in Istanbul on Thursday, where Russia also offered to restore direct air links between the two nations.

Mexico extradited 29 alleged cartel members to the United States on Thursday, including Rafael Caro Quintero, a highly prized target wanted for the killing of a US narcotics agent in 1985.

Caro Quintero, considered be the founder of the Guadalajara cartel, is suspected of ordering the kidnapping, torture and murder of Kiki Camarena, which was dramatised in the Netflix show Narcos.

President Trump has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada next week for what he considers their failure to stop drugs and illegal migrants from crossing into the US.

The extraditions appear to indicate that negotiations to avert the tariffs are continuing as the tariff deadline approaches. Trump initially said he would impose the tariffs from February 1, but has since shifted the date several times.

President Macron has said he left Washington after meeting President Trump earlier this week with very little hope on progress on tariffs.

In a speech in Portugal, Macron said that the EU will respond to tariffs on aluminium and steel, adding that the import duties are inflationary.

Earlier this week, Trump threatened to slap 25 per cent tariffs on the EU and said the bloc had been “formed to screw the United States”.

President Trump talked up the prospect of a “trillion dollar” deal to mine Ukraine’s rare earth minerals on the eve of his meeting with President Zelensky.

“We’ll be dig, dig, digging,” Trump said during a joint press conference with Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday.

“The American taxpayers will now effectively be reimbursed for the money and hundreds of billions of dollars poured into helping Ukraine defend itself,” he said. “Which, by and of itself, is a very worthy thing to do.”

Details of the agreement expected to be signed at the White House on Friday have not yet been released.

Romanian defence spending could reach three per cent of GDP within the next two years, the interim president, Ilie Bolojan, said on Friday, adding that the spending target for 2025 was slightly higher than last year. Romania is a Nato member.

Bolojan added that it was premature to discuss sending troops to Ukraine after any potential ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.

On the battlefield, the Ukrainian military says it shot down 107 drones out of 208 launched by Russia overnight.

The air force said another 97 drones had been “lost” and did not reach their targets, probably due to electronic warfare countermeasures.

It did not specify what happened to the remaining four drones.

Sir Keir Starmer won concessions from President Trump on trade and British plans to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius — but failed to extract key ­commitments from the president on the future of Ukraine.

Trump refused to make firm promises and said of a peace deal: “It’ll either be fairly soon or it won’t be at all.”

• What did Keir Starmer and Trump discuss? The key points examined

President Zelensky might have thought he was being smart last September by offering Donald Trump a deal involving mineral rights in return for continued backing for Ukraine in its war with Russia. By proposing a businesslike deal to the presidential candidate, he would be talking Trump’s language.

• What minerals does Ukraine have and why does Trump want them?

When President Trump leapt on that offer, seeing an opportunity for “winner takes all” negotiations, Zelensky’s plan seemed to have backfired.

Trump said Ukraine should simply hand over half a trillion dollars worth of reserves with nothing in exchange.

President Trump and President Zelensky are likely to sign an agreement giving America exclusive rights to mine some of Ukraine’s mineral wealth, with both sides pocketing some of the profits.

However, the details are vague. No sum — certainly not $500 billion — is specified, according to early reports. The terms under which the minerals are exploited and the profits shared are left unsaid.

And, most importantly, there is no timing for when this bonanza, whichever of the two countries takes the lion’s share, is paid out.

• US-Ukraine minerals deal: what we know ahead of Trump-Zelensky meeting

Russia’s security chief, Sergei Shoigu, met President Xi of China on Friday in Beijing, state news agency Xinhua said.

Shoigu’s trip comes days after Xi spoke to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, with the Chinese leader hailing Moscow’s “positive efforts to defuse” the Ukraine crisis.

The former French president, François Hollande, has claimed that the US president is “no longer an ally” and “he is consorting with our adversaries”.

He made the claims in Le Monde newspaper just days after his successor, President Macron, met the American leader in Washington.

Hollande said that Trump “has opened a deep rupture with Europe”. He continued: “And we must draw the conclusion: if the American people remain our friend, the Trump administration is no longer our ally.”

Hollande is now an MP and there has been some speculation he may run again for the presidency in 2027.

The expected timings on Zelensky’s visit to Trump shows that the two leaders will first meet at a Washington hotel at 9.30am local time (2.30pm GMT). They are not expected to make any statements or talk to reporters at this time.

The leaders will then transfer to the White House about an hour and a half later. They are expected to talk to the media at 6pm GMT.

Moscow has condemned an alleged Ukrainian-sponsored assassination plot on a senior Russian cleric linked to President Putin.

Russia’s FSB security service has arrested two church figures, a Russian and a Ukrainian, on suspicion of plotting to murder Tikhon Shevkunov — whom Russian media have described as “Putin’s confessor” — at the behest of Ukrainian military intelligence.

“It is clear that the Kyiv regime does not shrink from anything,” the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters. “In this case, nothing is sacred.”

There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv.

Ahead of Friday’s meeting in Washington, fighting has continued between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

Moscow’s defence ministry said its forces had retaken the village of Novaya Sorochina in the western Russian region of Kursk from Ukrainian forces, the RIA state news agency reported.

Russian troops have been fighting to push out Ukrainian soldiers from Kursk since last August, when Kyiv staged a lightning incursion over the border and captured a chunk of Russian territory.

The Ukrainian military said it had hit Russia’s Ilsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region and a thermobaric weapons warehouse in the Russia-occupied Donetsk region overnight.

The general staff said on the Telegram messenger app that the refinery is supplying fuel to the Russian military.

Friday’s meeting comes amid claims in the French media that President Trump decided to cancel President Zelensky’s planned visit to Washington, but President Macron managed to persuade his American counterpart to maintain the invitation.

The Ukrainian leader phoned Macron after receiving a message from the White House on Wednesday telling him not to come to the US, according to French diplomatic sources

Macron then made an urgent call to Trump and said he would “guarantee” Zelensky. Trump is then said to have relented because he had personally announced the Ukrainian president’s visit.

Macron met Trump in Washington on Monday and tried to persuade him to provide Ukraine with security guarantees if a peace deal is signed.

The deal set to be signed by the two leaders would see Ukraine contribute 50 per cent of “all revenues earned from the future monetisation of all relevant Ukrainian government-owned natural resource assets” to a reconstruction fund jointly owned and managed by the United States and Ukraine.

The agreement does not specify how the funds would be spent, or identify specific assets it covers, though it says they would include deposits of minerals, oil and natural gas as well as infrastructure such as gas terminals and ports.

President Trump has said that the US has provided “about $350 billion” worth of aid to Kyiv in its war against invading Russian troops. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy estimates the US has in fact provided about $119 billion.

The meeting between President Zelensky and President Trump could be tense.

In recent weeks, the Ukrainian leader has been criticised by those in the new Washington administration and Trump has called Zelensky a “dictator”, which was widely criticised.

At Trump’s White House meeting with Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday, the US president was asked if he still believed that Zelensky was a dictator. Trump replied that he could not remember making such a statement. “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that.”

President Zelensky will meet President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday at a pivotal moment for his country, as he tries to persuade Trump to provide some form of US security backing against any future Russian aggression.

Zelensky’s delegation is expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the US aimed at financing the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine, a deal that would closely tie the two countries together for years.

Though the deal, which is seen as a step toward ending the three-year war, references the importance of Ukraine’s security, it leaves that to a separate agreement to be discussed between the two leaders in talks that are likely to commence on Friday.