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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday to sign a deal on sharing Ukraine's mineral resources. Trump announced the meeting, while Zelensky described the agreement as preliminary and said he seeks further deals, including US security guarantees to deter Russian aggression.
But Trump said the US would not provide guarantees "beyond... very much", saying the responsibility should instead fall to Europe.
Trump also seemingly ruled out the prospect of Ukraine becoming a Nato member - one of Zelensky's long-held ambitions.
Speaking at a meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday, Trump said the presence of American workers extracting rare earth metals on Ukrainian soil would provide "automatic security" for Ukraine.
He said Kyiv should "forget about" joining Nato and repeated Russia's claims that the issue was one of the driving factors behind the war.
The US president suggested a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia was not far off, telling reporters: "We're going to make a deal with Russia and Ukraine to stop killing people."
But Zelensky said without security guarantees "we won't have a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing".
"I want to find a Nato path or something similar," he said.
Russia has consistently opposed the idea of Ukraine becoming a member, fearing it would bring Nato forces too close to its borders.
Trump has suggested European peacekeeping troops could be stationed in Ukraine as part of a ceasefire deal, but Russia says it is against this.
European representatives, however, were not included in Washington's initial talks with Russia.
Zelensky said the success of the minerals deal, which was formally backed by his government on Wednesday evening, would depend on the outcome of his meeting with Trump this week.
Key details have not yet been made public, but Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said it envisages an "investment fund" for Ukraine's reconstruction.
The prospect of a deal was first proposed by Zelensky last year as a way to offer the US a tangible reason to continue supporting Ukraine.
