President Donald Trump told his Cabinet on Wednesday that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine was expected to come to Washington to sign a framework agreement enabling the United States to share in the country’s mineral wealth, but he insisted the United States would not be providing security guarantees to Ukraine in return.

Obtaining such guarantees from Washington, the only nuclear-armed power truly capable of standing up to Russia, had been Zelenskyy’s central demand. His greatest concern is being forced into a ceasefire, only to discover Russia uses the time to rebuild its military, regroup and attempt to seize his country again.

But Trump made clear that if there are to be any such promises, they will have to come from Europe, with little backup from Washington.

“I’m not going to provide security guarantees beyond very much,” he said at his first Cabinet meeting, which was dominated by discussion of the firing of government workers and other efforts being overseen by Elon Musk.

— The New York Times