Washington is set to host a high-stakes meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday, as the two leaders seek to finalize a significant minerals deal. The agreement will grant the U.S. access to Ukraine’s vast rare earth metal resources, a move both leaders have framed as mutually beneficial. However, it also raises broader geopolitical questions regarding security guarantees, NATO ambitions, and the ongoing war with Russia.
Trump has positioned the deal as a way for the U.S. to recover some of the money it has spent aiding Ukraine, referring to it as a “very big agreement” that ensures American workers’ presence in Ukraine. He further suggested that this presence would provide Kyiv with “automatic security.” However, he downplayed the prospect of direct U.S. military assistance or Ukraine’s NATO membership, reinforcing his stance that Europe should take primary responsibility for Ukraine’s security.
Zelensky, while acknowledging the deal as an economic opportunity, has insisted on stronger security guarantees from the U.S. before agreeing to any ceasefire with Russia. “Without security guarantees, we won’t have a ceasefire, nothing will work,” he stated. He remains committed to seeking a path into NATO or a similar security framework to deter further Russian aggression.
Trump’s insistence on excluding Ukraine from NATO aligns with Russia’s long-standing opposition to the country’s membership in the alliance. Moscow has repeatedly cited NATO expansion as a justification for its invasion of Ukraine. Trump’s comments that Kyiv should “forget about” joining NATO echo Russian narratives, adding tension to the already complex U.S.-Ukraine relationship.
The meeting comes at a critical juncture, with reports of ongoing peace negotiations between Russia and the U.S. in Saudi Arabia talks from which Ukraine was notably excluded. Zelensky has expressed frustration over the U.S. engaging directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing Washington of helping to rehabilitate the Russian leader on the global stage.
Meanwhile, European leaders have voiced concern over being sidelined in discussions affecting their continent. EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas emphasized that “any kind of deal to work on European soil needs the Europeans to also agree to it.” Her scheduled meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was abruptly canceled, raising further questions about transatlantic unity on Ukraine policy.
With the war still ongoing and large portions of Ukraine’s resource-rich land under Russian occupation, the success of this minerals deal and its broader implications remains uncertain. Both Zelensky and Trump will have to navigate a complex web of economic, military, and diplomatic concerns as they meet in Washington this week.
