Zelenskyy seeks Trump meeting over terms of U.S. mineral deal

KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Sunday for a meeting with President Donald Trump as the United States continues to push a deal for access to his country’s minerals, and said he would step down if it would bring peace to Ukraine or in exchange for NATO membership – sequences of events that remain unlikely.

The Trump administration has cast doubt on Ukraine reaching its goal of becoming a NATO member, frustrating Kyiv that an important bargaining chip might be taken off the table before any serious negotiations with Russia even begin. But Zelenskyy said Sunday that discussion of Ukraine joining the alliance – and thus benefiting from its collective security guarantee – remains “on the table.”

“It doesn’t matter who wants that or not, supports this idea or not,” he said.

He also said he wants Trump to visit Kyiv, or at least to meet him in person before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. If Trump were to meet Putin first, Zelenskyy said, “there would be disbelief at the United States. … It would be bad for U.S. society.”

“I’d really like for him to be on our side,” he said, adding that Washington playing the role of mediator is “not enough.”

Speaking at a lengthy news conference at a forum in Kyiv about Ukraine’s future, Zelenskyy continued to push back on the initial terms of a U.S.-proposed deal to give the United States access to the country’s rare minerals, arguing that it both miscalculated the amount of money sent to Ukraine and unilaterally changed past grant deals into loans.

“I’m not signing something that will have to be repaid by generations and generations of Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy said.

The remarks came as senior Trump administration officials suggested that they expected an agreement on Ukraine’s rare minerals to be reached imminently. Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that he expects the deal to be finalized this week. Asked about the White House comments, Zelenskyy replied that he did not think any conclusive deal to end fighting would be reached soon.

“To end the war this week, it won’t happen. It is not possible without guarantees for Ukraine,” he said. “At the very least, I do not know how this can be done without meeting with us.”

Speaking on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy, who has been Ukrainian president since 2019 – elections planned for last year were indefinitely postponed because of the war – said he had no desire to stay in office long-term. In a post to Truth Social last week, Trump called Zelenskyy “A Dictator without Elections.”

If it brings peace, and “if you really need me to relieve my post then, I’m ready to do that for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “I am focusing on Ukraine’s security today, not 20 years. … I’m not going to stay in power for decades.”

Zelenskyy offered a critical view of the initial U.S. rare minerals proposal, arguing that the original text of the proposed deal would have forced Kyiv to pay back twice what Washington said it owed. “I underlined it in red for lawyers to have a look because for each dollar of U.S. assistance, Ukraine would effectively have to return two,” he said, asking rhetorically if Israel or Qatar had to pay a 100% markup on weapons they buy.

“I’m ready to discuss it with President Trump,” he said. “I have no emotions about that. I am ready to talk about a pragmatic agreement.”

Zelenskyy also said he realized soon after reading the deal that it was not attached to future security guarantees for Ukraine, but rather structured as a repayment for past support – essentially charging Ukraine for aid negotiated under the Biden administration.

If Ukraine were to give up a large portion of its natural resources, Zelenskyy said, it would have to go “hand in hand with security guarantees.” If there was uncertainty, another war would be likely, he said. “Can you look victorious if you have a ceasefire and another war starts in a year?” he asked, saying that if that happened, the Trump administration would lose face.

Zelenskyy said he understood that Trump’s comments in the past days were not “compliments.” Still, he said, partnership with Washington remains a priority for Kyiv. “Our countries have a strategic relationship; we are partners. It’s not in our right as presidents to lose partnership between our countries,” he said.

The night before, Russia launched its largest drone attack of the war on Ukraine, testing Ukraine’s air defenses by sending 267 Shahed drones across the country, the military said Sunday. Ukrainians shot down 138, and electronic warfare helped disable 119 others.

One of Trump’s arguments for a rare minerals deal is that Ukraine owes the United States hundreds of billions of dollars. On Sunday, Zelenskyy again disputed that, arguing that his country has not even received that amount of money.

Ukraine has received “100 billion U.S. dollars – not 500, not 350, not 700 – but 100 billion U.S. dollars … and we are extremely grateful for that,” he said.

In a post to Truth Social last week, Trump said that the United States had spent $350 billion on Ukraine, and that Zelenskyy said half of it was “missing.” In an earlier interview with Fox News, Trump said he wanted “the equivalent, like $500 billion worth of rare earth” minerals, to repay U.S. support for Ukraine.

Trump’s numbers do not align with records of U.S. appropriations for Ukraine. According to an analysis of Congressional Budget Office figures that the Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington think tank, published last year, more than $100 billion has directly aided the Ukrainian government, some of it humanitarian rather than military support.

Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the role of natural resources in Ukraine’s “victory plan” that Zelenskyy presented to the United States in September was tied to other factors, including security guarantees, that she said should be kept “on the table as well.”

Ukraine needs to update its geological survey, she said. She warned that resources including titanium that are in Ukrainian territory currently under Russian control could be used to support Russia’s defense and “will be used against us in this fight.”

In recent days, the Trump administration has also pressured Ukraine to withdraw an annual resolution at the United Nations condemning Russia’s war, proposing a U.S.-sponsored statement that does not mention Russian responsibility for the war, according to officials and diplomats from a variety of countries, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the still-unresolved discussions.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said he has been in constant communication with partners over the past day and is confident that the Ukrainian resolution will maintain strong support on Monday.

“It’s very important that our partners are able to clearly state their position” at the United Nations, he said. “It’s very important not to manipulate the word peace.”