Trump: Europe will be responsible for protecting Ukraine and we want the money we spent back and we can sign a deal to buy metals from Russia
US President Donald Trump hinted at the possibility of the United States buying precious metals from Russia, stressing that this would be wonderful for the Russian side as well.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that his administration might want to sign a deal with Russia to buy precious metals from it after the deal he is expected to sign with Ukraine.
He stressed that Russia possesses large quantities of precious metals, and that the United States could buy from them by signing an agreement in the next stage.
He pointed out that purchasing these minerals would be great for the Russian side as well.
On the other hand, Trump said he was ready to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, next Friday in Washington, to sign a deal on precious metals.
He pointed out that the United States wants to recover the money it spent to support Ukraine militarily since the beginning of the Russian attack on its territory on February 24, 2022.
Commenting on whether the United States or Europe would play a role in protecting Ukraine in the future, Trump said, “I think the European countries will be largely responsible for this”.
In a televised interview on Monday evening, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “Trump wants to improve the political situation in Ukraine, and his initiative serves Ukrainian interests more than Russian interests”.
Putin said that Russia is ready to provide the United States with an opportunity to work together in the field of rare metals, noting that his country has more of these resources than Ukraine.
Kiev has refused to sign an agreement with Washington, while negotiations continue on key points of contention, including security guarantees for it and whether mineral rights will be only in exchange for future US military aid, or cover previous installments made to Kiev by the administration of US President Joe Biden.
Ukraine has large reserves of important rare minerals, the total value of which may reach trillions of dollars, and it has about 5% of the world’s total mineral resources, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 report.
In addition to having one of the largest proven reserves of lithium, Ukraine has reserves of neon gas, used in semiconductors and crucial for the production of electronic chips, beryllium, uranium, zirconium, apatite, iron ore, and manganese.
Earlier, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who has rejected Ukraine’s accession to NATO because of the alliance’s mutual defense clause, stressed that the United States would defend any economic investment it makes in Ukraine’s mineral resources.
“This could mean trillions of dollars, not just for the Ukrainian people, but for us and for stability in the region,” Waltz said in an interview Monday morning with Fox News.
“This economic investment is one of the best security guarantees that Ukraine could hope for”.
