Updated February 26, 2025 at 16:54 PM ET
KYIV, Ukraine, and WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will meet with President Trump on Friday to sign a preliminary deal giving the United States a share of critical raw materials but wants "guarantees of peace and security" in any final agreement.
In a Wednesday evening video address, Zelenskyy said "it's important that U.S. support is not stopped. Strength is needed on the path to peace."
But the U.S. may be unwilling to offer much more security support in return that Ukraine has sought as it fights a three-year, full-scale Russian invasion.
President Trump said the two leaders will sign a "very big agreement," casting it as a way to compensate the U.S. for billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine. "We've been able to make a deal where we're going to get our money back and we're going to get a lot of money in the future," Trump said at a meeting with his Cabinet on Wednesday. He said U.S. taxpayers "shouldn't be footing the bill" in Ukraine.
Speaking earlier in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said a framework deal with the U.S. on Ukraine's critical raw materials was nearing completion, though key details were still under negotiation.
Zelenskyy described the framework as a preliminary step toward a broader agreement. The discussions center on which raw materials Ukraine will supply to the U.S. and what security guarantees Ukraine might receive in return.
"The priority is not to lose the U.S. as a main guarantor of security for Ukraine," Zelenskyy told journalists at Kyiv's Presidential Palace. He said without future security guarantees from the U.S., there can be no durable peace deal or a ceasefire that Trump has spoken about.
"Nothing will work," Zelenskyy said. "So we will have — nothing."
At the White House, Trump said it was up to Europe what kind of security guarantees Ukraine will have in the future.
"I'm not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We're going to have Europe do that," Trump said.
"President Zelenskyy is coming to sign the deal, and it's a great thing," he said. "It's a great deal for Ukraine too, because they get us over there. We're going to be working over there. We'll be on the land, and you know, that way it's this sort of automatic security, because nobody's going to be messing around with our people when we're there."
Earlier this week, Trump said Ukraine should compensate the U.S. for past military aid totaling "$350 billion," but academics tracking aid to Ukraine say that's twice the actual amount. Zelenskyy dismissed the idea of accepting such conditions.
Ukrainians say they aren't against a deal on critical minerals but many say the Trump administration's approach is coercive.
Annabella Morina, a 47-year-old civic activist, got so angry she organized a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv on Wednesday. She pointed to a long banner that read: "Trump Makes America Very Small."
"Because what Trump is doing is against the principles of democracy and freedom, and the values I associate with America," she said. "He's tarnishing the reputation of America."
Another protester, Yuliia Abramova, a 39-year-old artist, compared the Trump team's negotiation tactics on the mineral deal to phone scammers who try to extort money through fear.
"They say, 'Let's do this quickly so you don't have time to think about it,' " she said. "They say, 'Just give us the money or whatever we want.' And you feel like you can't do anything about it."
Oleksandr Kraiev, director of the North America program at the Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council in Kyiv, said the most recent draft of the critical minerals deal reported by news outlets is much better than the first one, which he called a "neocolonial imposition." NPR could not verify the different versions of the deal, which have not been released publicly.
"This latest draft comes with investment opportunities for Ukraine, opportunities for innovation and restoration of our economy," he said. "That's the main reason why the Ukrainian government is ready to sign it."
Zelenskyy's visit will cap off a week when European leaders have been trying to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine, including a White House visit by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday and another by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer set for Thursday.
The Trump administration has stunned its allies by siding with Russia on United Nations resolutions on the Ukraine war and holding talks with the Russian government — without Ukraine or other European countries at the table.
Joanna Kakissis reported from Kyiv, Asma Khalid from Washington, D.C. NPR producers Hanna Palamarenko and Polina Lytvynova contributed reporting from Kyiv.
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