President Donald Trump on Monday suggested he was uninterested in helping rebuild war-torn Ukraine when asked what the U.S. would contribute to the country’s reconstruction efforts.
“I mean, we’re in there for about $350 billion. I think it’s a pretty big contribution,” Trump said at a White House news conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, referring to past U.S. aid. (The total sum of aid is reportedly much lower.)
The president’s remarks were made on the third anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine, and Trump refused to say whether he’d support further money or troops to Ukraine, as he has tried to put pressure on France and other European allies to foot more of the bill.
After a private meeting on Monday, Trump and Macron said they were aligned on getting a ceasefire and a lasting peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. Macron commended Trump, saying the American president confirmed that he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss a deal that would give American investors access to critical minerals and rare earths in Ukraine, in payback for U.S. aid.
Trump recently called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and incorrectly suggested that Ukraine started the war. He has also long been criticized for being too friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said on Monday that he’s spoken with Putin, who Trump said was interested in a peace deal.
“When I got here, one of the first calls I made was to President Putin, and we were treated with great respect. And they want to end this war,” Trump said.
Macron called progress on the minerals deal a “very important step forward” and went on to say that France and other European countries are working on plans to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine to back a negotiated peace deal. Trump on Monday also said that he thought European peacekeepers on the ground in Ukraine would be acceptable to Putin.
Macron emphasized the proximity and interest European countries have in securing an end to the war for the stability of the region and because the norms of international sovereignty should be respected.
“No one in this room wants to live in a world where it’s the law of the strongest, and international borders can be violated from one day to the next by anyone,” Macron said.
—
Helen Huiskes is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.