Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on sharing his country’s mineral resources, Trump has said.
Zelensky has described the bilateral deal as preliminary, and said he wants further agreements which include US security guarantees to deter renewed Russian aggression.
But Trump said the US would not provide guarantees “beyond… very much”, saying the responsibility should instead fall to Europe.
Trump also seemingly ruled out the prospect of Ukraine becoming a Nato member – one of Zelensky’s long-held ambitions.
Speaking at a meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday, Trump said the presence of American workers extracting rare earth metals on Ukrainian soil would provide “automatic security” for Ukraine.
He said Kyiv should “forget about” joining Nato and repeated Russia’s claims that the issue was one of the driving factors behind the war.
The US president suggested a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia was not far off, telling reporters: “We’re going to make a deal with Russia and Ukraine to stop killing people.”
But Zelensky said without security guarantees “we won’t have a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing”.
“I want to find a Nato path or something similar,” he said.
Russia has consistently opposed the idea of Ukraine becoming a member, fearing it would bring Nato forces too close to its borders.
In 2008, the alliance had said that Ukraine could eventually join.
Trump has suggested European peacekeeping troops could be stationed in Ukraine as part of a ceasefire deal, but Russia says it is against this.
European representatives, however, were not included in Washington’s initial talks with Russia.
Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said “for any kind of deal to work on European soil, you need the Europeans to also agree to it”.
She said the mineral resources deal was up to Ukraine, but any peace agreement would “need the Europeans on board”.
Ms Kallas’ scheduled meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday was abruptly cancelled, with both sides citing scheduling issues.
Zelensky said the success of the minerals deal, which was formally backed by his government on Wednesday evening, would depend on the outcome of his meeting with Trump this week.
Key details have not yet been made public, but Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said it envisages an “investment fund” for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
The prospect of a deal was first proposed by Zelensky last year as a way to offer the US a tangible reason to continue supporting Ukraine.
But disagreements over its substance exacerbated tensions between Trump and Zelensky in recent weeks.
The Ukrainian president had rejected an initial request from the US for $500bn (£395bn) in mineral wealth, but media reports suggest this demand has now been dropped.
There are also differences in how both sides are now describing the deal. Trump has lauded the “very big agreement” as an opportunity for the US to get its “money back” after funding aid to Ukraine.
But Zelensky has instead referred to it as a “framework agreement” upon which he hopes further deals can be made.