President Donald Trump’s administration is set to approve its first military sale to Ukraine, a major shift in relations between the two countries. The move follows a minerals agreement signed earlier this week, which now appears to be more than just a trade deal. It could become the gateway to renewed arms transfers.
According to a memo submitted to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the state department has approved a proposed license to export “$50m or more” (£37.6m) in defence-related goods and services to Ukraine.
This would be the first time Trump’s administration greenlights such a deal since halting military aid to Ukraine soon after taking office.
On the 1st of May, 2025, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tied the minerals deal directly to his private meeting with Trump during the pope’s funeral on Saturday, the 26th of April, 2025.
“Now we have the first result of the Vatican meeting, which makes it really historic. We are waiting for other results of the meeting,” he said during his nightly address.
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Zelenskyy described the deal as “truly equal” and highlighted its potential to attract major investment into Ukraine’s struggling economy.
Behind the scenes, Kyiv is preparing for what could be a rapid return of military support. Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to Zelenskyy, acknowledged that while the deal didn’t guarantee weapons, it could fast-track discussions.
“There is no direct link where it’s written that ‘you will receive these particular weapons’, but it opens the possibility for parallel talks on the purchase of weapons,” he said in an interview from Kyiv.
“The American side is now open to these discussions,” he added.