(Picture: Getty)
Donald Trump has never been one for subtlety, but his latest claim beats all of them.
As European leaders are scrambling to seek out a solution to ending Russia’s three-year war, the US president is attempting to strong-arm Volodymyr Zelensky into handing over Ukraine’s vast natural resources.
Based on the Republican, not only does he have a stake in Ukraine’s oil, gas, and significant minerals reserves, but he also has dibs on infrastructure and ports.
If that isn’t enough, the $500 billion Trump claims the industry is value is just ‘payback’ for all of the US military aid, the White House confirmed.
The Ukrainian president refused to sign the agreement, saying the US has offered no specific security guarantees.
On Friday, he said the US and Ukrainian teams were working on a deal and Trump said he expects one can be signed soon.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to an online
browser that
supports HTML5
video
It has since been reported that Trump’s negotiators have threatened to chop Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite web system, sources conversant in the matter told Reuters.
Starlink provides crucial web connectivity to war-torn Ukraine and its military.
This raised during meetings between Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine, and Zelensky, said considered one of the anonymous sources, who was briefed on the talks.
Through the meeting, Ukraine was told it faced imminent shutoff if it didn’t reach a deal on critical minerals.
‘Ukraine runs on Starlink. They consider it their North Star,’ they warned. ‘Losing Starlink … could be a large blow.’
Who has given essentially the most aid to Ukraine?
The US has been the largest source of military aid to Ukraine, including weapons, equipment and financial support, during Joe Biden’s term within the White House.
Between the beginning of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022 and the top of 2024, the US gave £54.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
On military aid, Europe’s support of £52 billion is on an analogous level, data from the German think tank the Kiel Institute shows.
But Europe has long surpassed the US in the case of financial and humanitarian aid allocations ( £57 billion versus £41 billion).
In percent of GDP, only Scandinavian and Eastern European countries, plus the Netherlands, have made a big effort to support Ukraine.
Major donors comparable to Germany, the US or the UK have allocated lower than 0.2% of their GDP on aid to Ukraine per 12 months.
After Reuters published its story, Musk posted on X that the article is ‘false’ and accused the news agency of lying.
Melinda Haring, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, said Starlink was essential for Ukraine’s operation of drones, for one.
‘Losing Starlink could be a game changer,’ Haring said, noting that Ukraine was now at 1:1 parity with Russia when it comes to drone usage and artillery shells.
Ukraine has a wide selection of various drone capabilities, starting from sea drones and surveillance drones to long-range unmanned aerial vehicles.
Zelensky rejected an in depth US proposal last week that will have seen Washington and US firms receiving 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals.
They includes graphite, uranium, titanium and lithium, a key component in electric automobile batteries.
Since then a rift has emerged between the leaders, with Trump denouncing Zelensky as ‘a dictator without elections’.
Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Director of Trump biopic Ali Abbasi accused of ‘aggressively groping’ A-list actor
MORE: Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer’s recent passport lists her as male after Trump’s anti-trans orders
MORE: Donald Trump says Zelensky brings ‘no cards’ and isn’t necessary in Russia peace talks
