Pay back the billions of aid, Trump tells Ukraine
Donald Trump has said a deal for Ukraine’s rare earth metals is “pretty close” and the US is targeting “anything we can get” in exchange for the aid it’s provided.
Mr Trump told a conference he was determined to get payback for billions of dollars of military hardware and other assistance.
However, a source has told Sky News that President Zelenskyy is not ready to accept the agreement that’s been drafted.
President Trump was the star draw at the CPAC conference in Maryland
“I want them to give us something for all the money we put up,” Mr Trump told the CPAC conference. “So we’re asking for rare earth and oil – anything we can get!”
He claimed European countries had given their aid as a loan but the US had not – meaning they were due some compensation.
“We’re going to get our money back because it’s not fair,” Mr Trump told the event in Maryland.
“And we will see, but I think we’re pretty close to a deal. We better be close to a deal”.
Mr Trump claimed the US had given $350bn in aid, but some international bodies – such as Kiel’s Institute for the World Economy – estimate it’s around $120bn.
Rare earth metals are elements used in high-tech goods such as mobile phones and electric vehicles. Demand is increasing but there are concerns over future availability.
Mr Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, told the same conference on Friday that he also believed a deal would be struck.
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Despite US optimism, a Ukrainian source said an agreement was not yet close due to “a number of problematic issues”.
They said drafts did not “reflect a partnership in the agreement and contain only unilateral commitments by Ukraine“.
Kyiv is likely to be pressing for robust security guarantees from America in any future peace deal with Russia.
Mr Trump’s speech on Saturday evening spanned many subjects, taking numerous digs at opponents such as Joe Biden and heralding what he said were numerous achievements since he regained the White House.
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Meloni’s message to CPAC conference
He also shouted out visitors in the audience such as Reform leader Nigel Farage, calling him a “great guy”, and Argentinian President Javier Milei – who spoke to the conference in Spanish on Saturday.
Italian premier Giorgia Meloni, seen as a key Trump ally in Europe, also delivered a video message defending the political direction of the continent.
“I know you can perceive Europe as distant and lost, but I can tell you it’s not,” said Ms Meloni – who also reaffirmed support for Ukraine, saying it was resisting “a brutal aggression” from Russia.
President Trump repeated his optimism that a deal to end the war is possible under his watch, saying he was “dealing” with both the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.
“I’ve spoken to President Putin and I think that thing [the war] is going to end,” he told the conference.
Ukraine has insisted it won’t accept any deal agreed without its participation, after it was excluded from this week’s meeting between top US and Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia.
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Mr Zelenskyy hosted US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv this week. Pic: AP
Tensions have been rising in recent days between President Trump and President Zelenskyy.
The US leader referred to Mr Zelesnkyy as a “dictator”, apparently in response to the Ukrainian president saying Mr Trump was living in a Russian “disinformation space”.
Sir Keir Starmer again lent his unwavering backing to Ukraine’s leader in a phone call on Saturday.
Downing Street said the prime minister “reiterated his ironclad support” and “commitment to securing a just and enduring peace to bring an end to Russia’s illegal war”.
It comes days before Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron head to Washington for tricky talks in which they must press Ukraine’s case while keeping the US leader onside.
President Trump told a radio show on Friday that the two European leaders “haven’t done anything” to end the war.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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