WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump said Thursday that a looming critical mineral deal will serve as a "backstop" for Ukraine as Kyiv seeks security guarantees from the US as part of a deal to hand over extraction rights.

Speaking less than 24 hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to visit the White House, Trump said the leaders would be signing a "very important agreement for both sides" during their pending face-to-face.

"It's really going to get us into that country. We'll be working there. We'll have a lot of people working there. And so, in that sense, it's very good. It's a backstop, you could say," Trump told reporters as he hosted UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House.

"I don't think anybody's going to play around if we're there with a lot of workers, and having to do with rare earths and other things which we need for our country, and we appreciate it very much, and I look forward to seeing him. We'll be talking about it, and we'll also be talking about that today with the prime minister," Trump said as he prepared to head behind closed doors with Starmer.

Ukraine is sitting on massive reserves of critical rare earth minerals that could total trillions of dollars. It holds about 5% of the world’s total mineral resources, according to a 2024 World Economic Forum report. Besides having one of the largest confirmed reserves of lithium, Ukraine boasts semiconductor-grade neon gas that is critical for chip production, beryllium, uranium, zirconium, apatite, iron ore and manganese.

Negotiations had centered on two major sticking points between Washington and Kyiv, including security guarantees for Ukraine and whether the mineral rights would be exchanged solely for future US military aid, or if they would cover previous installments that were given to Kyiv by the Biden administration.

Trump continued to rule out Ukraine's inclusion in the NATO alliance, but said negotiators would seek to return as much territory that is occupied by Russia to Ukraine as possible.

"They fought long and hard on the land, and you and I will be discussing that. We're going to certainly try and get as much as we can back, but on the NATO, it's just not going to happen," he said, addressing Starmer.

Asked about his comments that called Zelenskyy a dictator, Trump said: “Did I say that? I can't believe I said that.”

Trump said he does not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to violate his word as the US continues to engage with the Kremlin in negotiations about ending the war in Ukraine, describing his view of Putin as "trust and verify."

"Let's call it that, and I think we both can be that way. You have to verify because you never know what's going to happen. I know a lot of people that you would say 'no chance that they would ever deceive you,' and they're the worst people in the world. I know others that you would guarantee they would deceive you. And you know what, they're 100% honorable, so you never know what you're getting," he said.

"We have to make a deal first. Right now we don't have a deal. We have Russia. We have Ukraine. I think we're very well advanced. I think Russia has been acting very well," he added.