WASHINGTON — President Trump has walked away from a potential minerals deal with Ukraine — and is now suggesting the US take a stake in nuclear power plants in the war-torn country instead.
“We have moved beyond the economic mineral deal,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Post during her press briefing Wednesday, referring to ongoing discussions of a potential cease-fire between Washington, Kyiv and Moscow.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump spoke for approximately one hour with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — the first time the two leaders have spoken since Trump kicked Zelensky out of the White House and scrapped plans to sign the mineral deal Feb. 28.
Trump suggested that the US “could be very helpful” in running nuclear plants in Ukraine with “electricity and utility expertise,” Leavitt said, adding that American stakeholding would be best for the vital resources’ “protection.”
The White House has previously said it has particular interest in discussing the fate of the nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia, which is located right on the border of Russian-occupied territory and Ukraine.
The plant has experienced several close calls, and if it explodes, could lead to the largest nuclear disaster in European history — going beyond the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in 1986.
Trump had touted the mineral deal as a way to provide Ukraine economic security and had been pressuring Zelensky to sign the deal for weeks, sending Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and peace envoy Keith Kelogg to get the deal across the finish line.
The deal remained on the table even after the Zelensky-Trump fight in the Oval Office, as Trump officials said the Ukrainian president had to make amends with the administration to sign off the multi-billion dollar deal — and that Zelensky had to physically sign the deal first.
The mineral deal would have established a joint US-Ukraine fund that would have worked to extract key minerals, worth billions of dollars.
Trump had said the deal would have been a repayment for the billions of aid the US had given Ukraine over the past three years.
The movement towards nuclear power plant ownership comes as the Trump administration is working on getting a full cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia.
Leavitt reiterated that Russia agreed to a cease-fire on “energy and infrastructure” with Ukraine during Trump’s phone call with Putin, not just “energy infrastructure” as the Kremlin had claimed.
National security adviser Mike Waltz said he would be heading to Saudi Arabia in the coming days to meet with Russian officials to continue peace talks to establish a full cease-fire.
“The mineral deal was that first set of framework,” Leavitt said. “We are now focused on a long-term peace agreement.”
