US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that air defenses – potentially other military aid – are not getting to Ukraine at present, but he suggested that the aid could be “sustained... maybe until” a peace deal is reached with Russia.
During Tuesday’s Oval Office press conference, Trump was asked by a reporter if “the war fighting equipment and the ammunition” from the US will be “sustained going forward for Ukraine and how long [will] it [be] sustained,” to which Trump suggested that it could go on “for a while.”
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“It could go forward for a while and maybe until we have a deal with Russia. Look we need to have a deal with Russia, otherwise it’s going to continue,” Trump said.
Later at the press conference, another reporter asked if air defense systems would be delivered to Ukraine, to which Trump responded by saying “right now we are not providing anything,” before reiterating that the US has provided more aid to Ukraine than Europe at a figure of “$350 billion,” that contradicts official US figures.
Since Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Washington has not announced any new military aid packages for Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the absence of US support would significantly complicate the situation on the battlefield.
When asked if the US government would continue to supply Ukraine with military aid under the peace agreement – as part of security guarantees – Trump said that in the future, “European countries will be responsible” for supplying military aid to Ukraine.
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“European countries will be responsible. Well, we’ll see, right now we’re just in the process of negotiating,” he said, adding that “general security for Ukraine” won’t be a problem given that there are “a lot of people who want to do that.”
“I spoke with Russia about it and they didn’t seem to have a problem with that [security guarantees for Ukraine]. Once we do this, they are not going back [to Ukraine],” Trump said.
Trump confirmed that Washington and Kyiv have “pretty much negotiated” the deal on “rare earth” and various other things.
He said he “[heard] that” Zelensky is coming to Washington on Friday to sign the deal.
“I hear that he’s coming on Friday. Certainly, it’s ok with me if he’d like to [come] and he’d like to sign [the resources deal] together. I understand that’s a big deal, very big,” Trump said.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian officials confirmed that Kyiv is ready to sign an agreement with the US on developing its mineral resources.
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