Trump Confirms Zelensky Visit, Signals Limited US Security Guarantees for Ukraine
President Donald Trump has confirmed that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Washington, D.C. on Friday to sign a “critical minerals deal,” but tempered expectations regarding US security guarantees for Ukraine, Al Jazeera reports.
“I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much,” Trump said on Wednesday, adding that Europe would be responsible for providing such assurances.
This statement comes despite Zelensky previously complaining that the current preliminary economic agreement with the US lacks the security guarantees.
The agreement is reportedly structured to grant the US access to Ukraine’s vast reserves of critical minerals, vital for industries such as aerospace, defense, and nuclear energy, in return for US assistance. Reports suggest that the White House has exerted considerable pressure on Kyiv to secure this access.
While Zelensky characterized the framework economic deal as a first step towards a full agreement subject to parliamentary ratification, the visit follows a week of heightened tensions between the two leaders. Trump recently referred to Zelensky as a “dictator.”
Trump has described the agreement as a repayment for the billions of dollars in aid the US has provided to Ukraine during the war. Announcing Zelensky’s visit at the first Cabinet meeting of his second term, Trump hailed the deal as “a very big agreement:”
“The previous administration put us in a very bad position, but we’ve been able to make a deal where we’re going to get the money back and a lot of money in the future.”
Trump also ruled out the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO.
“NATO – you can forget about. I think that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”
In related news, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that US and Russian officials are scheduled to meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss bilateral disputes as part of a broader dialogue aimed at finding a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.
