Washington - Saba:
"Ukraine must ensure the safety of American money invested in it, because it may become Russian one day," the US President stated on Monday.
"They have lands of enormous value in terms of rare metal reserves, oil, gas and other things. I want our money to be safe, because we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars. They may reach an agreement, they may not, they may become part of Russia one day, they may not," Donald Trump added, at an interview with the American Fox News network.
According to Trump, the United States has provided Ukraine with more than $ 300 billion, and may reach $ 350 billion, while Europe has provided only $ 100 billion.
"We have provided double that," he said, noting that he is waiting to recover the money that the United States spent on Ukraine.
"I told them I want the equivalent of $ 500 billion in rare metals, and they basically agreed to that. At least we will not feel stupid, otherwise we will be stupid. I told them we have to get something."
Asked about the continuation of arms supplies to Ukraine, Trump avoided answering directly.
Earlier yesterday, an American newspaper quoted US President Donald Trump as saying that he had spoken by phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in an attempt to negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine.
The American newspaper said that Trump, when asked on board the presidential plane how many times the two leaders had spoken, said: "I'd rather not say that."
Trump expressed his belief that the Russian president "cares" about the killings on the battlefield, saying: "He wants people to stop dying, all these young people who are dead."