Shorouk Express
“This is something that Donald Trump can say to his right wing, to the Republican Ukraine skeptics, that he has secured. And I think it holds the prospect of progress.”
Johnson said the current draft of the proposal now commits the United States to a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine.
In a brief comment to POLITICO, Johnson seconded what Zelenskyy had claimed earlier Sunday — that $500 billion compensation demand to the U.S. is also no longer in the latest draft of the deal. “Ukrainians negotiated quite well,” Johnson said from the stage of the conference.
It comes after a senior Ukrainian official said Monday that the contours of a deal were now coming into view.
“Ukrainian and U.S. teams are in the final stages of negotiations regarding the minerals agreement,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Olga Stefanishyna said in a post on X. “The negotiations have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalized. We are committed to completing this swiftly to proceed with its signature.”
Back in London, the British government faced questions about the capacity Johnson — who is no longer an elected politician — was acting in as cheerleader for the agreement.
Current Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson told journalists only that they did not have “any details of his engagements” and stressed that the U.K. is “focused on everything we can do” to support Ukraine.
Since leaving office, Johnson has lobbied Trump — and fellow U.S. Republicans — to maintain U.S. support for Ukraine. More recently, Johnson has attacked “headless chicken-ism” among European capitals in response to Trump’s push to end the war, and downplayed the U.S. president’s more outlandish statements on the conflict as being designed to “shock” Europe into action.
