The Kremlin believes that in essence, by saying that he wants Ukraine to supply the United States with rare earth minerals, US President Donald Trump has announced that he wants Kiev to pay for military aid from Washington, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
According to Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, such a public statement means that Washington is not ready to continue providing military support to the Eastern European country for free.
"This is a proposal for Ukraine to buy its aid, that is, it should no longer be provided to it on a gratuitous or other basis, but on an economic basis,", the Kremlin official said.
Yesterday, Trump told reporters that Ukraine was ready to participate in such a barter, and added that he wanted the United States to receive something "equal" from Kiev in exchange for the aid, which amounts to "nearly $300 billion".
Trump said he wanted to negotiate an agreement with Ukraine in which it would offer "guarantees" for its rare earth minerals, widely used in electronics, in exchange for US aid, Agence France-Presse reported. His Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, had already proposed in October last year to reach an agreement with Ukraine's partners on the exploitation of certain strategic metals.
"We are trying to reach an agreement with Ukraine in which they will provide their rare earth minerals and other things in exchange for what we give them", the US president said during a conversation with journalists in the Oval Office.