Washington, Feb 13: US President Donald Trump has suggested Ukraine may fall under Russian control “someday”, as he called for the war-torn country to share its natural resources in exchange for US assistance.Trump, whose return to power has thrown doubt over billions of dollars in US aid to Ukraine, told Fox News on Monday that he had told Kyiv he wanted “$500 billion worth of rare earth”.
Ukrainian officials had “essentially agreed” to the proposal, he claimed.
Ukraine has “tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas, in terms of other things,” Trump said.
“I want to have our money secured because we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars.”
“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 are going to have all this money in there and I say I want it back.”
Trump, who has been vocal about the need for a quick end to the conflict, had earlier floated the idea of meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week.
Further, CNN in its report said that these remarks of Trump are likely to please the Kremlin, which has illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions since launching its invasion.
US envoy to Ukraine and Russia, General Keith Kellogg, announced he would discuss their vision for peace in Ukraine with allies at the Munich Security Conference, on February 14-16.
Kellogg is then expected to visit Kyiv four days later, according to Ukrainian state media.
The Kremlin echoed Trump’s remarks.
The Russian invasion, which began in February 2022, was expected to quickly overwhelm Ukraine.
However, nearly three years into the conflict, Russia controls only about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory.
In 2023, Moscow conducted a controversial referendum in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, attempting to legitimise its annexation of these territories.
“Despite many dangers, (people) stood in line and voted” in the referendum, Peskov added.
The referendum, however, was dismissed as a “propaganda exercise” by international observers, as reported by CNN.
“The fact that a significant part of Ukraine wants to become Russian, and the fact that it has already become Russian is (undeniable),” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
Peskov acknowledged it as a “50 per cent probability” and said that a significant part of Ukraine already wishes to become Russia, referring to the referendum held in the occupied parts of Ukraine.
In the Fox News interview, Trump also expressed that his administration had made “tremendous progress” in laying the groundwork for potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Zelensky mentioned that “some serious people” from the Trump administration would visit Ukraine this week ahead of the Munich Security Conference, where he is expected to meet with Vance.
Trump also reiterated his interest in securing a return on US investment in Ukraine, particularly in terms of the country’s resources.