REPORT: Zelensky now ready to sign mineral rights deal

Last week, President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky had a monster blowout on national TV, which resulted in the White House canceling the press conference for the mineral rights deal signing.

Now, apparently, Zelensky wants to make nice and sign the deal.

What Causes the Blowout

Rather than document something I have already reported on exhaustively, I want to look at why the blowout happened.

I believe there were two underlying themes that contributed to this.

First, JD Vance had a bone to pick with Zelensky over his appearance with Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania during the election. It was not categorized as a campaign event, but that is exactly what it was. Harris had no right to ask Zelensky to appear, and he should have been smart enough to decline.

Second, Zelensky met with a group of Democrats before his meeting with Trump, and they convinced him this was a bad deal for Ukraine. Democrats stated the deal offered Ukraine nothing, and my retort was, you mean other than getting a free ride on the nearly $200 billion in aid we have already given Ukraine?

No Deal

To be honest, Zelensky does not appear to be someone that is looking for peace, and he even stated that he thinks peace is far, far away.

Well, that set Trump off, who then announced that the deal was off until Zelensky was ready to come to the table seriously. Trump just about lost it during the meeting, telling Zelensky, “You’re gambling with World War III, 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.”

After the meeting, the presser to sign the deal was canceled, with Trump stating, “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

Dems, of course, jumped all over this, accusing Trump of doing Putin’s “dirty work,” which is absurd. Trump hit the nail on the head… Zelensky has no leverage here, so he needs to be honest about what he is willing to accept and take the deal for peace.

Back on the Table

On Thursday, reports broke that Zelensky has once again agreed to the mineral rights deal. During recent interviews, he made it clear that he knew he needed to make up with Trump, and this was about the only way that was going to happen.

President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told the media on Thursday that the deal was back on the table, stating, "I think Zelenskyy has offered to sign it, and we'll see if he follows through.”

He continued, "President Zelenskyy has demonstrated that he's intent on that good-faith path back. He's apologized. He said he's grateful. He said that he wants to work toward peace. That's ultimately the goal here. President Trump is an outcome-oriented man. He wants a good outcome, and a good outcome is peace. No more deaths and a better world."

That is good news. Last week during my initial reporting, I stated that Zelensky would come around and I expected a peace deal to be worked out within 90 days, expecting this to be settled before July 1. I am now more confident than ever that I hit the nail on the head in reading Trump on this particular issue.