“This is a historic moment.” Political expert tells what to expect from the meeting between Trump and Zelensky
28 February 18:40
On February 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will begin his visit to the United States with a meeting with U.S. senators, followed by talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. Their talks will not be broadcast there.
Political analyst Oleh Lisnyi told [Komersant] what to expect from the meeting between the Ukrainian and US presidents.
“From this moment we are talking about, now, there is very little left to the long-awaited peace. At least because no one has met with Putin yet. This is very cool, actually.
What’s happening now is a historic moment, in my opinion. And we don’t know yet how the dialog will go, but the fact that Zelensky met with Trump earlier is very cool. That’s why I’m coming in. Because Putin was imposing an agenda in the sense that he would be the first. This did not happen,” the political scientist says .
He emphasizes that the meeting between Trump and Zelensky is a historic moment.
“Ukraine and the United States have a very difficult dialog, but the deal has been agreed. What Trump says about our president is different. Which is strange. Because, for example, he does not consider a dictator to be a superior,” the political scientist says .
Lesnyi also shared his expectations from the meeting of the presidents: “My expectations are at least positive.”
According to the political scientist, Trump met with Zelensky first because “we put the element of rare earth metals on the agenda. By the way, if I’m not mistaken, Trump used this option once before in Afghanistan. We didn’t know at the time whether it was a plus or a minus, but it played into Zelenskyy’s peace plan. Therefore, if we take the fact that we imposed this agenda as a basis, it is actually very good.”
According to him, the communication that needs to take place is positive, because Trump has changed his narrative on Ukraine today.
“But the Russians just started to get bullish, and Trump started to build communication with Russia in a different way. There are sanctions, and they should have been extended a little later, but they started today, a signal? Yes. In fact, the situation is developing in a very extraordinary and aggressive way,” added Oleg Lisnyi.
Agreement between Ukraine and the United States: what is known
In February 2025, the United States and Ukraine reached a preliminary agreement aimed at jointly developing and managing Ukraine’s mineral resources. The agreement, known as the Bilateral Agreement Establishing Conditions for the Reconstruction Investment Fund, provides for the establishment of a joint investment fund to rebuild Ukraine’s war-ravaged economy. The main objective of the fund is to attract and reinvest revenues from Ukraine’s substantial mineral wealth to contribute to its recovery and long-term stability.
Key provisions of the agreement
Establishment of the Reconstruction Investment Fund. According to the text of the agreement, published by The Kyiv Independent, the fund will be jointly owned and managed by the governments of the United States and Ukraine. The ownership and financial interests of each party will be defined in a subsequent agreement on the fund. The fund will be managed by representatives of both governments, and more detailed terms will be set out in a subsequent agreement.
Ukraine’s contribution. Ukraine commits to allocate 50% of its future revenues from the monetization of its natural resources, including minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas and other extractive infrastructure, to the Reconstruction Investment Fund. These contributions will continue until the amount reaches USD 500 billion. It is important to note that current sources of revenue that are already included in the general budget of Ukraine are not covered by this agreement.
The role of the United States. The U.S. government is committed to maintaining a long-term financial commitment aimed at developing a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine. This includes investments, financial instruments, and other tangible and intangible assets critical to Ukraine’s recovery. However, the agreement does not include specific security guarantees or continued arms transfers to Ukraine; these issues will be discussed separately.
Background and reaction
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed US President Donald Trump’s decision to meet with him ahead of a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it a “very good signal.” Zelenskiy is expected to visit Washington to officially sign the deal, but there was no official confirmation from Kyiv at the time of publication.
The deal has raised concerns among Ukraine’s European allies, who fear possible concessions to Russia in favor of the United States in peace talks.
