It's an honor to have President Zelensky of Ukraine.

And we've been working very hard, very close.

So we've actually known each other for a long time.

We've been dealing with each other for a long time and very well.

We had little negotiations back, but that worked out great, I think, for both countries,

I think for the world, actually, beyond both countries.

And we have something that is a very fair deal.

And we look forward to getting in and digging, digging, digging, and working and getting some of the rare earth.

But it means we're going to be inside, and it's a big commitment from the United States.

And we appreciate working with you very much.

And we will continue to do that.

We have had some very good discussions with Russia.

I spoke with President Putin, and we're going to try and bring this to a close.

It's something that you want and that he wants.

We have to negotiate a deal.

But we've started the confines of a deal, and I think something can happen.

The big thing is the number of soldiers, mostly at this point, but soldiers being killed, they're losing thousands of soldiers.

Well, on both sides, we're losing a lot of soldiers, and we want to see it stop.

And we want to see the money get put to different kinds of use, like rebuilding, the rebuilding.

And we're going to be working very hard.

But we've had a lot of very good conversations.

I will say, until we came along, the Biden administration didn't speak to Russia whatsoever.

They didn't speak to anybody.

They just allowed this to continue.

And I will say that — I'll say in front of you, you've heard me say it a thousand times — if I were president, this war would have never happened.

We would have had a deal negotiated for you without having to go through what you've gone through.

But you — your soldiers have been unbelievably brave.

We've given them great equipment, but if somebody has to use the equipment, they've been unbelievably brave.

And we give them great credit.

This was supposed to be over very quickly, and here we are three years later.

So I give tremendous credit to your generals and your soldiers and yourself, in the sense that it's been very hard fighting, very tough fighting.

They're great fighters, and you have to be very proud of them from that standpoint.

But now we want to get it over with.

It's enough, right, if we want to get it over with.

So it's an honor to have you here.

Thank you very much for coming.

I think we're going to sign the agreement at the conference in the East Room in a little while, right after lunch.

And we'll be having lunch together.

We're also discussing some other things.

And we appreciate everybody being here.

It's somewhat of an exciting moment.

But the really exciting moment is when we get a — when they stop the shooting and we end up with a deal.

And I think we're fairly close to getting that, and an honor to have you.

And please, would you like to say something?

Yeah.

Thank you so much, Mr. President.

Thank you for invitation.

And really, I hope that this document, first document, will be first step to real security guarantees for Ukraine, our people, our children.

I really count on it.

And of course, we count that America will not stop support.

Really, for us, it's very important to support and to continue it.

I want to discuss it with details further during our conversation.

And of course, the infrastructure or security guarantees.

Because for today, I understand what Europe is ready to do.

And of course, I want to discuss with you what United States will be ready to do.

And I really count on your strong position to stop Putin.

And you said that enough with the war.

I think that it's very important, Ben, to say these words to Putin at the very beginning — at the very beginning of war, because he is a killer and terrorist.

And I hope that together we can stop him.

But for us, it's very important to save our country, our values, our freedom and democracy.

And of course, no compromises with the killer about our territories.

But it will be later.

And of course, what I wanted — you know, we spoke about it by phone with you, about the drone's production.

We have very good drone's production.

I think the best one in the world for today because of the war.

Yes, and of course, we need very much the air defense.

You have the best air defense in the world.

And really, you helped us under attacks of Russians.

And I want to speak how we can exchange the licenses.

We're open to share the licenses of all our drones with you, of course, with the United

States.

And we need licenses for quick production of air defense.

Even after the war, we need our nation to be calm, that we are secure.

That's why we need this air shield.

And of course, about this, I want to speak about the contingents.

I think that France and UK already spoke to you.

And we know that Europe is ready.

But without United States, they will not be ready to be as strong as we need.

And then the last point, last but not least, about exchange, about our people and children.

We know that this crazy Russian, that they stole 20,000 of children, Ukrainian children.

They changed their names.

They changed their families, relatives.

And now they're in Russia.

We want to bring them back.

And really, it's a big, big dream, task and goal for me and our warriors.

By the way, Mr. President, we brought, we exchanged, we just released more than 4,000 warriors from Russian prison, but there are thousands more in the prison.

I wanted to share with you some images.

How, just, just, can I, can I, can I now?

Yeah, please.

One minute, one minute, just you to understand what, in what circumstances, in what situation they are, and what the attitude of Russia to our prisoners.

Bad guys, just you before, before and after, you see, before and after, just you to understand.

Now thousands of such guys, ladies and men, they are, and that, so they don't eat, they beat them and they, you know, a lot of, a lot of, you know, bad things.

So out of, even during the war, there are rules, everybody knows, there are rules during the war.

Bad guys, they don't have any rules, you see that, 50, 60 kilograms left, and, and a lot of such things, and I didn't want to show you what, what the changes with images of children, because I will share, just share with you, and, I mean, it's looking tragic.

No, it's tough stuff.

Yeah, yeah, I wanted very much to, to give you, you see, this is pastor, by the way, the stolen pastors, because it's not Russian church, the stolen pastors, and moved pastors to the prison.

We, at the end of last year, we, we brought three pastors, and we, we could exchange them, and this is pastor, you see, like.

Yeah, it's tough.

Yeah, so I mean, this, I wanted to show you, and this, so thank you very much.

We want to get that ended, correct?

Yeah, of course.

Of course we will.

I think we will.

I think we will.

And, of course.

Do you have any questions, please?

Thank you, Mr. President.

With the, how much money is the U.S. going to put into the fund that, that is being created today?

And how does this provide long-term security for Ukraine?

Well, we don't know exactly how much, because we're going to be putting some money in a fund that we're going to get from the raw earth that we're going to be taking and sharing in terms of revenue.

So it's going to be a lot of money.

A lot of money will be made from the U.S.

And, as you know, our country doesn't have much raw earth.

We have a lot of oil and gas, but we don't have a lot of the raw earth.

And what we do have is protected by the United States.

We have a lot of oil, and we have a lot of gas.

But we don't have a lot of the raw earth.

So it's going to be a lot of money.

And, of course, we're going to be putting some money into fund that is going to be created today?

And how does this provide long-term security for Ukraine?

Well, we don't know exactly how much, because we're going to be putting some money in a fund that we're going to get from the raw earth that we're going to be taking and sharing in terms of revenue.

So it's going to be a lot of money.

A lot of money will be made from the sale and from the use of raw earth.

And, as you know, our country doesn't have much raw earth.

We have a lot of oil and gas, but we don't have a lot of the raw earth.

And what we do have is protected by the environmentalists, but that could be unprotected.

But still, it's not very much.

They have among the best in the world in terms of raw earth.

So we're going to be using that, taking it, using it for all of the things we do, including

AI and including weapons and the military.

And it's really going to very much satisfy our needs.

So it's something that just worked out really well.

We have a lot of oil and we have a lot of gas.

We have a lot, but we don't have raw earth.

So this this has just about every component of the raw earth that we need for computers, for all of the things we do, which puts us in great shape and a long term security free environment.

I think they're going to have great luck.

I think once we make the agreement, that's going to be 95 percent of it.

It's not going to go back to fighting.

I've spoken with President Putin, and I think I mean, I feel very strong.

I've known him for a long time and I feel very strongly that they're very serious about it and will be everyone's talking about the other day.

All they talked about was security.

I said, let me make the deal first.

I have to make the deal first.

I don't worry about security right now.

I have to we have to have a deal because right now, last week, 2000 soldiers died on both sides.

Two thousand, a thousand, two thousand, three thousand a week.

So as we sit here and we talk, people are getting shot and dying on the battlefield.

And you know, they're not American soldiers, but they're Russian soldiers and the Ukrainian soldiers.

And we want to be able to stop it and we want to be able also to spend money on other things.

We don't want to.

This is a tremendous amount of money.

And what the Biden administration did was terrible.

They were giving money, but he had no security on the money.

Europe, as you know, gave much less money, but they had security.

It was in the form of a loan to get their money back.

And we didn't.

And now at least we're protected because the American taxpayer has to be protected, too.

But this is an incredible agreement for Ukraine, because we have a big investment in their country now.

And what what they have, very few people have.

And we're able to really go forward with very, very high tech things and many other things, including weaponry, weaponry that we're going to use in many locations, but that we need for our country.

This allows us to do this.

Yes, go ahead, please.

Yeah, I can just say, yes, in the document, there is one of the very important points if we speak about business and investment.

We never had LNG terminals in Ukraine.

This document will open, I mean, the next document.

But anyway, here we see in the framework where we see we see a really good deal for this.

LNG terminals for us is very important.

And I think for security of European continent, we have the biggest storage, gas storage.

We have the biggest in Europe.

Yes, it's.

Yeah.

And we can use it.

Because for LNG, we use it for LNG and we will do it.

And really, we we can help Europe because Europe really helped.

President Trump said that they made less support, but they are our friends and they are our very supportive partners.

They really gave a lot, Mr. President, really they did.

They gave a lot, but they gave much less.

No.

Much less.

No.

No.

No.

OK.

OK.

Mr. President Trump, you have repeatedly called the deal with Ukraine as a historical one.

And as the president of the United States, you make historical decisions in other issues which affect America and other world.

So what place in the world history do you want to take?

And do you associate yourself with any famous historical figures?

I'd say George Washington, Abraham Lincoln.

I would say I'm far superior to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Now, you know I'm only kidding, right?

Because when I say that, the fake news is going to go wild.