Trump Macron presser: US president says US and Ukraine are getting ‘close’ on critical mineral deal as he holds talks with Macron [Video]

President Donald Trump said he was hopeful that Russia’s war in Ukraine was nearing an endgame as he met on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron on the third anniversary of the invasion.

Trump, in broad-ranging comments on the state of the conflict, said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine to keep the peace. He also expressed hope that the conflict could end within weeks and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would soon come to the U.S. to sign a deal to give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals to help repay some of the $180 billion in American aid that’s been sent to Kyiv since the start of the war.

“It looks like we’re getting very close,” Trump told reporters at the start of his bilateral meeting with Macron. He added that Zelenskyy could potentially visit Washington this week or next to sign the deal.