Ukraine “can be Russian one day,” says Trump before the Vance-Zelensky meeting

CNN
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The president of the United States, Donald Trump, suggested that Ukraine could fall under Russian control “someday”, while requested that the country devastated by war shares its natural resources in exchange for US aid.

Trump, whose return to power showed doubts about billions of dollars in future help from the United States to Ukraine, told Fox News in an interview on Monday that he had told Kyiv that he wanted “500 billion dollars in rare earths” .

Ukrainian officials had “essentially accepted” the proposal, he said.

Ukraine has “tremendously valuable lands in terms of rare earths, in terms of oil and gas, in terms of other things,” Trump said. “I want to have our insured money, because we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars.”

And he added: “They may reach an agreement, it may not. You may be Russian one day, or one may not be. But we are going to have all this money there and I say I want it back. ”

Trump, who spoke about the need to quickly end the conflict, but has been scarce in public ideas, had previously raised the idea of ​​meeting with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, this week.

His envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired general Keith Kellogg, met with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. Kellogg announced that he would debate his vision of peace in Ukraine with his allies at the Munich Security Conference, from February 14 to 16. Kellogg is expected to visit KyIV four days later, on his first and expected trip to that country, according to Ukrainian state media.

“The fact that a significant part of Ukraine wants to become Russian, and the fact that it has already become Russian is (undeniable),” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, at a press conference this Tuesday.

Peskov recognized him as a “50%probability” and said that a significant part of Ukraine already wishes to become Russia, in reference to the referendum held in the occupied parts of Ukraine.

“This is a fact that occurred on the ground. Four new Russian regions and people who, despite many dangers, queued and voted in the referendum to join the Russian Federation. This corresponds greatly to President Trump’s words, ”said Peskov.