Good morning.

Donald Trump has announced that Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to sign a rare earth minerals deal to fund US military aid in defending against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The announcement follows days of tense negotiations between the US and Ukraine, wherein Zelenskyy alleged that the US was pressuring him to sign a deal worth more than $500bn, which would force “10 generations” of Ukrainians to pay it back.

“I hear that he’s coming on Friday,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “Certainly it’s OK with me if he’d like to. And he would like to sign it together with me. And I understand that’s a big deal, very big deal.”