Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump says Ukraine may be Russian someday while demanding $500bn rare earth deal
Donald Trump said Ukraine may or may not lose its sovereignty to Russia while claiming that the war-hit nation had “essentially agreed” to a rare earth minerals deal with the US.
“They may make a deal. They may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday.
“But we’re going to have all this money in [Ukraine] and I say, I want it back,” the president said in an interview with Fox News.
“I told them that I want the equivalent of like $500 billion worth of rare earths, and they’ve essentially agreed to do that.”
His remarks came as Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said it would not be possible to reach a peace deal if Mr Trump undermined Mr Putin’s fundamental aims.
“Without solving the problems which were the root causes of what is happening, it will not be possible to reach an agreement,” he said.
“So variations and half-measures are not the path we are prepared to go along.”
