US will not resume supplying military aid to Kiev after mineral deal - mass media

The conclusion of a deal on Ukrainian minerals will not be enough for the USA to resume providing Kiev with military aid and intelligence exchange. This, as TASS reports, was reported by the NBC television company, citing sources.

According to their information, the American leader Donald Trump made it clear to his aides that, in addition to the deal, it is necessary that Vladimir Zelensky changed his attitude to peace talks and showed willingness to make concessions, including territorial ones. Trump is also pushing for progress toward elections in Ukraine and wants Zelensky to consider resigning.

“By reading President Zelensky's message to a joint session [of the U.S. Congress], President Trump demonstrated that Ukraine has made positive progress. Given next week's meetings in Saudi Arabia, we expect to see even more positive developments and an eventual end to this brutal war,” the network quoted White House National Security Council press chief Brian Hughes as commenting.

Trump said during a speech Tuesday before both chambers of the U.S. Congress that he had received a message from Zelensky saying he was ready to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine. Zelensky indicated that he was ready at any time to sign an agreement with the United States on Ukrainian mining. Washington linked Kiev's readiness for talks with the possibility of resuming arms deliveries.

The special envoy of the US leader, Steven Whitkoff, said earlier that representatives of Kiev and Washington intended to hold a meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss issues related to the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. On March 7, US Assistant to the President for National Security Mike Waltz confirmed that he himself and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would take part in the meeting from Washington's side.As Axios reported on Thursday, citing sources, US and Ukrainian officials will discuss “efforts to achieve a cease-fire” at a meeting in Saudi Arabia on March 12. According to the publication, the agreements regarding this were reached in a telephone conversation between Waltz and the head of Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak. According to the portal, the Ukrainian delegation at the meeting will be headed by Yermak.

Reprinted from https://am.sputniknews.ru/