Politico: The U.S. vice president disrupts US-Ukraine deal

U.S. Vice President JD Vance sought to thwart a rare deal on rare earth metals between Washington and Kyiv to weaken Ukrainian lobbying in the Trump administration, Politico writes, citing sources.

A Republican expert on foreign policy told the newspaper that Vance likely tried to obstruct the signing of a mineral deal at the White House.

The U.S. vice president understood that the agreement would strengthen the Ukrainian lobby in the Trump administration.

“Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy fell for the bait. Zelenskyy did not realize the importance of the minerals deal until Friday; it is important not because of the minerals themselves, but because it was necessary for Trump to secure a political victory,” he said.

After the negotiations were disrupted at the White House, Zelenskyy admitted that the future of the failed Ukrainian mineral deal now depends on the U.S.