Donald Trump has said the minerals deal he is set to sign with Ukraine will act as the US “backstop” being desperately sought after by European countries for a post-war Ukraine settlement, but has ruled out sending troops.
Speaking in the Oval Office alongside British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Trump explained that the presence of American workers and business interests in Ukraine would deter Russian forces from launching another attack.
“We’ll be working there. We have a lot of people working there. And so in that sense, it’s very good. It’s a backstop, you could say,” he told reporters before leaving for lunch and a private meeting with the British entourage.
“I don’t think anybody’s going to play around if we’re there with a lot of workers, and having to do with rare earths and other things which we need for our country,” Mr Trump added.
The comments come ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, in which they are expected to finalise a critical minerals deal which will see Washington and Kyiv join forces in developing Ukraine’s rare earth capacity.
But it falls short of what Sir Keir is looking for in his visit to the White House. Sir Keir will push Mr Trump to accept the proposal for a US backstop as part of the Anglo-French peacekeeping plan in the event that a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia is signed.
Mr Trump is expected to push his Ukrainian counterpart towards a peace deal with Moscow during their meeting on Friday, before which he retreated from his comments about Mr Zelensky earlier this month, including describing him as a “dictator”.
“Did I say that?” Mr Trump said when asked whether he still believes what he said. “I can’t believe I said that, next question,” he added, having said in an earlier answer that he has a “very good relationship” with Mr Zelensky – despite admitting that it “maybe got a little bit testy”.
Mr Trump repeatedly insisted that Russian president Vladimir Putin would not violate a ceasefire deal.
Asked if Putin would invade again, he said: “I don’t think so. I think when we have a deal, it’s going to be the deal.
“I’ve known him for a long time now. I don’t believe he’s going to violate his word. I don’t think he’ll be back when we make a deal,” he added.
Sir Keir was prompted to push back on Mr Trump’s claim that the EU will get back all the money which it gave to Ukraine.
It was a repeat of an interaction with French president Emmanuel Macron, who corrected the same claim earlier this week.
“You know, they get their money back, we don’t get the money back. Biden made a deal. He put in $350 billion and I thought it was a very unfair situation,” Mr Trump said.
Sir Keir interjected: “We’re not getting all of ours [back]. I mean, quite a bit of ours was gifted. It was given. There were some loans, but mainly it was gifted.”
But it was largely mutual praise and warm words between the two leaders, after a frosty start to their relationship when disparaging comments made by Labour’s front bench about Mr Trump during his first stint in the White House surfaced last year.
Asked if the US would come to the UK’s defence in the event of conflict with Russia, Mr Trump said: “I’ve always found about the British, they don’t need much help.
“They can take care of themselves very well. The British are, have been, incredible soldiers, incredible military, and they can take care of themselves.
“But if they need help, I’ll always be with the British,” he added.
