Trump Sells Weapons to Ukraine

 

Trump Sells Weapons to Ukraine...

According to various reports, the Trump administration will approve the first sale of military equipment to Ukraine since Donald Trump took office, unlike his predecessor, Biden, who sent weapons in the form of aid.

This indicates that the metals deal signed between the two countries this week may pave the way for renewed arms shipments.

The US State Department has approved a proposed export license for $50 million in defense equipment and services to Ukraine, according to a letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. This is the first such approval since Trump suspended all military aid related to Ukraine shortly after taking office.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday evening that the signing of the long-awaited metals deal—on much better terms for Ukraine than expected—was the result of his meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the Pope's funeral on Saturday.

We now have the first outcome of the Vatican meeting, making it truly historic. "We are waiting for further results from the meeting," he said in his evening video address.

Zelenskyy praised the agreement as "truly equal," saying it "opens the door for significant investment in Ukraine."

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Mykhailo Podolyak expressed hope for a swift delivery of the weapons. "There is no direct connection between what is stated in the 'you will receive these specific weapons,' but it opens the way for parallel talks on arms purchases," Zelenskyy's aide said in an interview in Kyiv. "The American side is now open to these discussions." Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko signed the agreement in Washington on Wednesday, alongside US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant. Senior US officials told reporters they expect the Ukrainian parliament to ratify the agreement within a week. Under the agreement, the two countries will establish a joint fund, financed through new licenses for the exploitation of base metal deposits, oil, and gas.

After weeks of Trump's leniency toward Russia and his harshness toward Ukraine, authorities in Kyiv hope that this dynamic has changed. Zelenskyy stated on Thursday that the metals agreement "has changed dramatically during the process" and that it "is now a completely equal agreement that allows investment in Ukraine."

Most notably, it excludes from its transfers funds previously sent to Ukraine as military and humanitarian aid, which Trump has repeatedly said he hopes to recover. It also explicitly stipulates that the agreement must be implemented in a way that does not hinder Ukraine's integration with the European Union, and that American companies will not monopolize deals in Ukraine, but will only be granted the right to participate in competitive bidding on fair terms.

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The final document came after nearly three months of relentless negotiations, after Bessent presented a first draft of the plan to Kyiv, which Zelensky rejected as too punitive to sign. A subsequent signing ceremony was scheduled for February at the White House, but it was disrupted after Trump and J.D. Vance turned on Zelensky in the Oval Office on live television, leading to an abrupt end to the talks, and the Ukrainian president was asked to leave.

When asked about how Kyiv was able to improve the terms of the metals deal, Podolyak claimed that the actual discussions took a very different tone from some of Trump's public statements.

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No one explained to us how these minerals, most of which are found in eastern Ukraine, which is under Russian sovereignty, will be extracted. And if the battle is over these minerals, what is the fault of this planet, which has suffered so much from this war? This agreement will enable Trump to reach an agreement with Putin to stop the war and share in the profits from minerals. Will the costs of Putin's war, which he paid in billions, be compensated by minerals? Will Biden's billions to Ukraine also be compensated by minerals? Will the destruction of a country like Ukraine be rebuilt from the profits from these minerals? Why are officials in Ukraine negotiating calmly and not considering the damages of war or the loss of time any value? An agreement to sell minerals between America, Russia and Ukraine would have spared this planet the war that destroyed the infrastructure in Ukraine and led to high inflation rates and rising food and fuel prices all over the world.

The billions that the United States and the European Union paid to support Ukraine... would have been more beneficial to this planet by investing them in combating disease and poverty on this planet.