Liudmyla Shestakova has lost a lot to this war — her son, and his wife, who died together on the front lines. But she’s a realist, like many in this mining region in central Ukraine. And ever since President Trump suggested it, she has thought that her country should sign a proposed deal that would give America some profits from mining in Ukraine.
Ms. Shestakova, 65, who works with an environmental group called Flora in the city of Kropyvnytskyi, had hoped a deal between the U.S. and Ukraine on critical minerals could bring much-needed investment to the region.
But on Friday night, Ms. Shestakova, like many people in Ukraine, was shocked and blindsided at how the deal fell apart and how she felt that President Trump treated Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, almost like a serf who didn’t bow and kiss the ring quite enough.
“With a trustworthy partner, this could have been a beneficial deal for everyone,” said Ms. Shestakova, who once ran Flora and now sits on its supervisory board. “But with a partner like Trump, it could actually be dangerous.”
Across Ukraine, people said they were upset Friday night. They also said they wouldn’t stop fighting, even if America walked away.
“It will be hard, but we will survive,” said Iryna Tsilyk, 42, a poet and film director in the capital, Kyiv, whose husband serves in the army. “Today, I was not ashamed of my president and my country. I am not sure that the Americans can say the same.”
This deal was never any Ukrainian’s idea of a grand bargain. But since Mr. Trump took office, it became increasingly apparent that it was the only bargain on offer.
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion into Ukraine three years ago, the U.S. became Ukraine’s biggest supporter, and President Biden, Mr. Zelensky’s biggest cheerleader. Since taking office, Mr. Trump has referred to Mr. Zelensky as a “dictator,” blamed Ukraine for starting the war and praised Vladimir V. Putin, Russia’s president. And Mr. Trump has made it clear that he wanted payback for all of the support the United States had delivered in the past.
The minerals deal was supposed to be the down payment. It was supposed to guarantee that the U.S. would stay engaged in the war and continue supporting Ukraine, if it got something back.
Ukraine has more than 100 major deposits of critical minerals, alongside oil and natural gas reserves, according to the Kyiv School of Economics. And the central Ukrainian city of Kropyvnytskyi, with about 220,000 residents, is ground zero for these. It’s built on mining, much like the rest of the Kirovohrad region, rich with uranium, titanium, nickel and rare earth elements — the very minerals that the deal was built on, that Mr. Trump and the United States seemed so excited about.
A final draft of the minerals agreement reviewed by The Times described how a U.S.-controlled fund would receive revenue from Ukraine’s natural resources. The specifics were vague, but after furious rounds of negotiations, it had turned from something that felt almost like extortion for most Ukrainians to something they could live with.
Before the deal fell apart, Ukrainians in the area were largely excited about the idea of getting more American investment in the region. Maybe that could help clean up the hills of uranium-laden tailings from the mines, or deliver higher-paying jobs. Most people here said they were fine with giving some of the profits from future mines to America in return for the country’s support in its war with Russia.
After the deal fell apart, Ukrainians said they were shocked. It was a jaw-dropping moment. At restaurants, diners interrupted their meals to stare at their phones watching live videos of Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky.
“If the agreement is not signed, it will be much harder for us to continue fighting,” said Volodymyr Savytskyi, 75, a geologist who worked at a mine near Kropyvnytskyi for decades. He added: “If it is not signed, we will have to find another way, working with Europe and negotiating differently.”
As always, Ukrainians were quick with the memes Friday night. “R.I.P. back door deal,” said one, with a gravestone.
Oleksandr Tyron, a 30-year-old information technology worker who fled Vasylivka in the Zaporizhzhia region because of the Russian invasion, said he found out about what happened late Friday, after attending a pre-medicine class. “The knowledge of premedical care will help me in case of a Russian ballistic or drone attack in Kyiv,” he said dryly. (Ukrainians have needed to master dark humor over the past three years.)
He said he was proud of Mr. Zelensky for standing up to Mr. Trump. But he said he did not know what would happen if the U.S. decreased or stopped its support.
“I believe we will continue to stand our ground. I am sorry that Ukrainians and Ukraine have to prove themselves once again, but we have to do what we have to do,” he said. “There is no other way. Moscow is simply trying to destroy us, and after everything the Russians have done here, allowing them to succeed is unthinkable.”
In Kyiv, Yuliia Alendar, a 30-year-old lawyer, described Mr. Trump’s treatment of Mr. Zelensky as disrespectful. She also complained about how Mr. Trump has blamed Ukraine for starting the war.
“It’s like blaming a victim of violence for having a short skirt,” Ms. Alendar said. She added: “If Trump wanted to show that democracy is bending to dictatorship, then he succeeded. It feels like democracy is limited to the borders of the United States.”
Olena Kuzmenko, 50, a former deputy of the Pervozvanivska community in Kirovohrad, said she was grateful for all of the assistance for Ukraine. “But from the very beginning, this tone of ‘You are ungrateful’ was infuriating to me,” she said. “I don’t understand it at all. It feels like an attitude of ‘We are big and strong, and you are small, so just do what we say.’”
Ms. Shestakova said she understood that it would be difficult for Ukraine without U.S. support.
“They will tear Ukraine apart, but we will stand,” she said. She added that it was the right of Ukrainians to choose their president. “It’s better to have no deal at all than to have this one,” Ms. Shestakova said.
Evelina Riabenko, Dzvinka Pinchuk and Oleksandr Chubko contributed reporting from Kyiv, and Yurii Shyvala contributed reporting from Lviv.