Donald Trump denies French media reports he will visit Russia in May and meet Putin
On Friday, the French weekly news magazine Le Point, citing anonymous sources, reported that Trump may attend a parade in the Russian capital to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, a term used in Russia to describe Eastern Front fighting during World War II.
Asked in the White House on Friday if he intended to go, Trump dismissed the media reports.
"No, no I'm not. I'm not," he said.
Trump was also asked about a potential minerals deal between Washington and Kyiv that was presented to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier in February.
That deal would see the US receive a 50% cut of all revenues generated from Ukraine's rare earth minerals and natural resources in what US officials are calling payment for previous military support.
"I think we're pretty close, yeah. I think they want it. They feel good about it. And it's a significant, it's a big deal, but they want it and it keeps us in that country and they're very happy about it," Trump said.
Those comments stand in stark contrast to Zelenskyy's previous remarks on Wednesday when he said "I can't sell Ukraine" and refused to sign the deal.
Washington demanded $500 billion (€477 billion) in mineral wealth from Ukraine. That was rejected by Zelenskyy on the grounds that the US had provided nowhere near that sum in military or financial aid and hadn't offered any specific security guarantees.
Since 2022, the US has provided Ukraine with around $67 (€64 billion) billion worth of weaponry.
"But it's we get our money back. This should have been signed long before we went in. It should have been signed by Biden. But Biden didn't know too much about what he was doing," Trump added.
European allies have recently rallied around Zelenskyy, nervous about Trump's apparent pivot to Moscow and fears that peace negotiations will take place without Ukraine's direct involvement and favour Russia.
On Monday, European leaders held a crisis summit in Paris hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of US officials meeting Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Neither Ukrainian nor European representatives were invited to those talks.
What followed was an escalating ward of words between the US and Ukrainian presidents. On Wednesday, Trump pushed back against Ukraine's objections at not being invited to ceasefire talks by suggesting Ukraine had started the war.
That prompted Zelenskyy to accuse Trump of living in a Russian "disinformation bubble".
A day later, Trump fired back, calling Zelenskyy a dictator for not holding fresh elections when his mandate expired in May last year.
Ukraine has been under martial law since the the Russian invasion and as per the country's constitution elections can't take place.
In a radio interview with Fox News on Friday, Trump said the Ukrainians weren't needed at ceasefire talks, accusing Zelenskyy of mishandling the war and saying, "They don't have any cards."
"I don't think he's very important to be in meetings," Trump said of Zelenskyy.
But Trump's rebukes of Zelenskyy were directly contradicted by the White House's Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg.He held talks with Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday and after the meeting, praised him as an "embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war."
The former US Lieutenant General posted on X that he had had a "long and intense" day of talks with Zelenskyy but that the meeting had been "positive."
Meanwhile, the leaders of France and the UK – Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer – will make separate visits to Washington for talks with Trump on ways to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine.
Macron will be in DC on Monday, while Starmer will visit on Thursday.
Trump referred to Macron as a "friend of mine" and said Starmer was a "nice guy" but in a swipe at both said they "haven't done anything" to end the conflict.
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