Zelenskyy is not ready to accept a 'problematic' mineral deal with the US it has been claimed – as Starmer reiterated his support for Ukraine's leader in a phone call.
President Zelenskyy said he is not prepared to sign a mineral deal with the US, according to a source close to the negotiations, noting he sees a "number of problematic issues" with the draft agreement.
It comes as Donald Trump continues to criticise the Ukrainian leader – despite also claiming in recent hours that a minerals deal was close.
The proposed agreement would see Ukraine trade the country's natural resources in exchange for US weapons.
"The agreement is not yet ready to be signed, there are a number of problematic issues, and in the current form of the draft, the president is not ready to accept it," a Ukrainian source told Sky News.
"Today, the drafts do not reflect a partnership in the agreement and contain only unilateral commitments by Ukraine."
It's reported that the US may have threatened to cut Ukraine's access to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet system if they did not agree to the deal.
US national security adviser Mike Waltz told the Conservative Political Action Conference that this deal would be completed soon.
He said: "Here's the bottom line, President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term."
Last night, Donald Trump has said Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy needed to ‘work together’ to achieve peace.
Speaking at the swearing in of his new commerce secretary, Mr Trump also said Russia ‘wants to do a deal’.
He also denied reports that he is planning to visit Moscow. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, has also denied that an agreement for Trump’s visit had been made.
The rebuttals came after a report in a French magazine claimed that Mr Trump would attend Victory Day celebrations in May alongside Putin.
Earlier Trump said Zelenskyy has 'no cards' to negotiate with when it comes to a peace deal.
As tensions continue to rise between the United States and Ukraine, Mr Trump previously said Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presence at peace negotiations is “not very important.”
It comes just hours after the US held "extensive and positive" talks with President Zelenskyy, according to Trump’s envoy for war.
"I've been watching for years, and I've been watching him negotiate with no cards,” Trump told Fox News on Friday.
“He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I've had it," he added.
"He's been at a meeting for three years, and nothing got done. So, I don't think it's very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you. He makes it very hard to make deals."
Trump went on to hit out at European leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer, for failing to end the war.
