President Donald Trump on Friday said his administration was “very close” to signing a contract with Ukraine for its right to access natural resources in exchange for the US billions of dollars that support the country against Russia. Ta.
“You know, I think they want that and they feel good about it,” Trump told reporters on Friday in his oval office. “And that’s important. It’s a big deal. But they want it, and it keeps us in that country. And they’re so happy about it.
“We got the money back. They should have been signed before we went in. They should have been signed by Biden. But Biden knows too much about what he was doing. Not there.
“After that first week or two, it got worse. It really got worse, but it should have been, it should have never happened. And it should have been resolved, It might have been very easy to solve at first. It’s difficult now, but I’ll solve it.”
Trump calls Ukraine’s Zelensky a “no-election dictator” as the rift spreads
“This is the bottom line. President Voldymee Zelenkie will sign the deal,” Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz said in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday. is. .”
The Waltz told Fox & Friends this week that Ukraine should “tone down” criticism of Trump and “come back to the table” and make economic deals with the US.
Ukrainian Presidents Voldymi Zelensky and President Donald Trump are “very close” to signing contracts with Ukraine to access their natural resources. (Kay Nietfeld/Picture Alliance/Curtis Means/Daily Mail/Bloomberg)
Access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals is part of a wider negotiation to end the war in Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in 2022.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said Trump has been winning a “winning” partnership between the US and Ukraine after meeting with Zelensky in Kiev on Wednesday.
“Part of my trip was to tell the people of Ukrainians that we wanted a financial partnership with them,” Bescent told Brett Beyer in his “special report.”
“So, President Trump’s vision is [to] We will closely link the people of Ukrainians with Americans financially, show the people of Ukrainians that we support them and that the money we go to Ukraine will show that there will be a return and that it will be a long time. Masu. – Period partnership. ”
Republican senators support Trump’s demands for the Ukrainian election, but are not called Zelenki’s “dictator”
The Trump administration is trying to reclaim the costs of aid sent to war-torn countries by gaining access to rare earth minerals such as titanium, iron and uranium.
This delay also comes amid growing tensions between Trump and Zelensky as the US works with Russian authorities to mediate peace deals in the ongoing war.
Trump claimed in Fox News that Zelenskyy has “no card” to negotiate leverage for the transaction, as he publicly casts insults at each other in recent days.
“I’ve seen this guy for years as his city is destroyed, his city is demolished, and his city is demolished,” Trump, co-host of Fox News He told Brian Kilmeade.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent, left, Ukrainian President Voldy Mir Zelensky will speak at a press conference held on February 12th (Tetiana dzhafarova/AFP via Getty Images)
“I’ve seen him negotiate without cards. He doesn’t have cards. You’re tired of it,” he added. “You’re just tired of it and I have it.”
Trump said Zelensky was a poor negotiator and that Bescent traveled to Ukraine last week to mediate a mineral agreement worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but the pair said they “can’t even get close to” the deal.
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The president said the trip was dangerous and a waste of time for Bescent.
The deal would have helped us invest in war-torn countries and, according to Waltz, would have provided “the best security guarantee they could hope for.”
Bailey Hill from Fox News contributed to this report.
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