US aid to Ukraine may continue until a deal is reached with Russia, US President Donald Trump said at a briefing on 25 February. He said that an agreement with the Russians was needed, otherwise Ukraine would continue to receive aid.
Asked whether military assistance would continue now, Trump said that "people will do it" and clarified that Europeans should be responsible for this. The journalist asked whether the US would supply air defence systems, and the president said that "right now we're not supplying anything".
The US wants its citizens' money back, and Trump expects a "quick settlement". He also said that he would like to sign a minerals agreement not only with Ukraine but also with Russia.
He believes such an agreement would be good, including for the Russians.
At the briefing, Trump again repeated the claim that the United States gave $350 billion to the war in Ukraine, although the Ukrainian president had previously said that the country had actually received $100 billion from the Americans. He also reiterated that Europe provided funds as a loan, although this has already been denied by the French president.
"We gave them 300 or 350 billion, no one really knows. So what we are doing is saying: look, we want to make sure we get the money back. We are helping a country with a very, very big problem, a problem that should never have happened. But it did, so American taxpayers should get their money back," the US president said.
- Trump confirmed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may come to Washington on Friday. He said this after the media reported that Ukraine and the US had reached an agreement on a minerals deal.
- Zelenskyy has previously stressed that it is important for him to meet with Trump before Putin does. As you know, the US president first spoke on the phone with the head of the aggressor country after taking office, and only then with Zelenskyy.