The Ukrainian leader also said he would step down if Ukraine was allowed to join NATO, though it was unclear if he was serious or not.

Zelensky said giving the U.S. profits from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as compensation for its wartime assistance to Kyiv has been taken off the table, but he indicated a more equitable deal was in the works.

Ukraine and the United States are in the final stages of negotiating a minerals deal considered central to ending Russia's three-year-old war in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official said on Monday. Kyiv and Washington are both interested in U.

U.S. officials under President Donald Trump have pressured Zelenskyy to sign a deal allowing the U.S. access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals as a form of compensation for the assistance the U.S has provided Ukraine.

He said the United States wanted to recoup the billions of dollars in military aid Washington has given to Ukraine in its fight to repel Russian invaders. He said the United State