Washington DC [US], February 25 (ANI): French President Emmanuel Macron said US President Donald Trump and he made 'substantive steps forward' during their meeting on Monday (local time), emphasising their shared desire to build peace -- but warning that it won't happen if Ukraine is forced to surrender, CNN reported.

'This peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine. It must not mean a ceasefire without guarantees. This peace must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders,' Macron said at a joint news conference with Trump at the White House, as per CNN.

The French president commended the US leader for his 'decision to work with President (Volodymyr) Zelensky, and to conclude this agreement that's so important for the US and Ukraine on rare earths and critical minerals, but also having substantive conversations with President Zelensky, doing this key phase of achieving this deal, which is a major commitment to Ukraine sovereignty.'

Macron added that 'after speaking with President Trump, I fully believe that there is a path forward,' saying that they 'share the same beliefs' on forging a lasting peace.

Trump said that he believes Macron agrees with him on 'many of the most important issues,' including that this is the right time to end the war, CNN reported.

Trump that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 'may come' to Washington this week or next as the two countries are 'very close' to coming to an agreement on a rare earths minerals deal.

'I will be meeting with President Zelenskyy. In fact, he may come in this week or next week to sign the agreement and... which would be nice, I'd love to meet him. We'd meet at the Oval Office. So the agreements being worked on now. They're very close to a final deal. It'll be a deal with rare earths and various other things. And he would like to come, as I understand it, here, to sign it and that would be great with me,' Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with France's President Emmanuel Macron.

The President's comments come as a finalized draft of the US-Ukraine resources agreement has been presented to the Trump administration and centers on a framework for a reconstruction fund for Ukraine, leaving problematic technical details, including security guarantees to later discussions, according to a Ukrainian source familiar with the negotiation, CNN reported.

During the Oval Office meeting, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent -- who was in the room -- added that an agreement is close, CNN reported.

'We are very close, one-yard line,' Bessent said.

Trump, with regards to Russia, said he would be open to an economic development partnership with Russia -- but added that his first priority is ending the war in Ukraine, CNN reported.

Trump's response came after he was asked about an earlier Truth Social post where he said he was in 'serious discussions' with Russian President Vladimir Putin about 'the ending of the War, and also major Economic Development transactions which will take place between the United States and Russia.'

Trump expanded on those comments later in the Oval Office, saying, 'You know, they have massive rare earth. It's very large -- it's actually the largest in terms of land. It's by far the largest country. And they have very valuable things that we could use, and we have things that they could use, and it would be very good if we could do that. I think it would be a very good thing for world peace and lasting peace.'

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy took to X and praised the heroism of Ukrainians in the ongoing war.

https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1893903871040463251

https://x.com/vonderleyen/status/1893892943712301259

Additionally, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, visited Kyiv on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (ANI)