US support 'crucial,' Zelenskyy says amid mineral deal negotiations
LONDON -- Ukraine is "preparing for negotiations" with the U.S. regarding security guarantees and "crucial" aid, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, with the Ukrainian leader expected to travel to Washington, D.C. on Friday to meet with President Donald Trump and sign a minerals deal.
Kyiv is maneuvering to win a U.S. security agreement as part of the proposed minerals deal, a "preliminary framework" of which Ukraine has been working on, Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.
But Trump said he would not offer any security guarantees to Ukraine "beyond very much," as part of any agreement. "We're going to have Europe do that," he told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.
In a video statement posted to the presidential website on Wednesday evening, Zelenskyy said his team is "working to ensure that Ukrainian positions are protected under any circumstances."
"And this is one of the key conditions for the diplomacy we need -- for the right diplomacy that will guarantee peace for Ukraine," he added.
The president said there "was a lot of international work" on Wednesday. "Our teams are working with the United States, we are preparing for negotiations as early as this Friday. The agreement with America. Support for our state and people."
"Guarantees of peace and security -- this is the key to ensuring that Russia will no longer destroy the lives of other nations," Zelenskyy said. "I will meet with President Trump. For me and for all of us in the world, it is crucial that America's assistance is not stopped. Strength is essential on the path to peace."
Trump said Wednesday that he expects to sign the minerals deal with Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday, adding that his administration is "happy" with the deal. Trump has framed the agreement as a means to recoup American wartime aid to Ukraine.
The countries agreed to a deal relating to critical minerals and other resources, a senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday.
Details of the deal appear to suggest Kyiv has succeeded in significantly improving the terms, perhaps staring down some of the Trump administration's more onerous demands.
The $500 billion demanded by Trump no longer features in the deal, and the fund that Ukraine will pay into is also no longer going to be 100% U.S.-owned, according to the full text of the agreement obtained by ABC News.
Ukraine agreed to contribute 50% of all revenue from its natural resources to a fund jointly owned by Ukraine and the U.S., according to the deal.
The natural resource assets include those directly or indirectly owned by the Ukrainian government and are defined as "deposits of minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas and other extractable materials, and other infrastructure relevant to natural resource assets (such as liquified natural gas terminals and port infrastructure)."
Zelenskyy, though, warned that any deal will not be viable without U.S. security backing.
"Without future security guarantees, we will not have a real ceasefire," Zelenskyy said. "And if we don't have it, nothing will work. Nothing will work."
ABC News' Patrick Reevell, Hannah Demissie, Rachel Scott and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
