Dark games of the White House: What does Trump seek from Kyiv and Moscow?

The old-new owner of the Oval Office, 78-year-old Donald Trump, has once again clearly demonstrated that the businessman within him triumphs over the politician. Specifically, according to Reuters, the White House has decided to compel European allies to purchase more American weapons for Ukraine. At the same time, the 47th president of the USA allegedly set the goal of reimbursing Washington for the funds already spent on military assistance to Ukraine by receiving rare earth metals from Kyiv. Reports indicate that the Bankova has already agreed to provide the United States with resources amounting to $500 billion.

Two sources informed Reuters about the Trump administration's intention to force its European allies to procure more American weapons for Ukraine's needs. According to them, this topic will be discussed in detail in the coming days, primarily at the Munich Security Conference at the end of this week, where a significant delegation from the U.S., led by Vice President JD Vance, will arrive. In this context, it is worth recalling that during the height of the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly stated his desire to significantly cut or even halt assistance to Ukraine, which under Joe Biden received over $65 billion from the U.S. solely for defense and security aid. However, advisors to the leading Republican believe that the White House should continue military support for Kyiv, but not directly and not at the expense of American taxpayers.

Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired General Keith Kellogg, did not confirm plans to sell American weapons to European governments for subsequent delivery to our country, but noted the following: "The U.S. has always liked to sell weapons made in America because it strengthens our economy." At the same time, Mr. Kellogg added that the supplies approved by the Biden administration continue to flow to Ukraine without hindrance.

In general, with Donald Trump's return to the White House, the idea that the primary burden of responsibility for Ukraine should be shifted from Americans to Europeans has become increasingly prevalent. "I think the fundamental principle here is that Europeans should take responsibility for this conflict in the future," said U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz in a recent NBC News interview. He also hinted that Washington expects to compensate in one form or another for all that it has already spent on aid to our country over the past three years, including through European funds. Meanwhile, it cannot be said that such a tactic from the White House has caused strong bewilderment among European allies. Donald Trump was right when he said that Europe should pay more to help Ukraine win the war, as "this is a global conflict, yes, but Ukraine is closer to Europe than to the U.S.," said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte recently. "If the new Trump administration wants to continue supplying Ukraine from its defense industry, Europeans will foot the bill, I am absolutely convinced of that, we must be ready for it," summarized the head of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Trump himself stated in an interview with Fox News: "They (the Ukrainians - ed.) have extremely valuable land in terms of rare earth metals, oil, and gas. I want our money to be secure since we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars. They can make a deal, they can not make a deal. One day they might become Russia or they might not, but our money is there, and I say I want it back." According to Trump, he has already made a deal with Kyiv: the Ukrainian authorities expressed their readiness to provide the U.S. with an equivalent of rare earth metals worth about $500 billion. "Essentially, they have already agreed to this, and at least we don’t feel like fools," concluded the old-new American leader.

In Kyiv, this "deal" was not commented on substantively, but in the swamps, they decided to interject their two cents. Thus, Putin's spokesman Peskov stated: "Well, probably, if we call things by their names, this is a concrete proposal to buy assistance, that is, not to continue providing it on a gratuitous or other basis, but specifically to ensure it on a commercial basis. But it would be much more reasonable for the States to completely abandon assistance to Ukraine."

Emphasizing that Zelensky and Trump have "found each other," political scientist Taras Zagorodniy states: "The first 'sells' virtual rare earth metals, the value of which without development is roughly 'zero' in exchange for military assistance. By the way, it is still unknown who these metals currently belong to. It is generally unknown whether they exist in nature. This will realistically be known five years after development begins. At the same time, the second pretends (although he may genuinely believe) that he is 'buying' a real asset, as he needs to explain to his voters why military assistance to Ukraine should continue or even increase, although during the elections, he was very skeptical about this. And all of this will be paid for by Europe, which will be pressured to finance the purchase of weapons for Ukraine from American producers. I believe that the same scheme could allow Trump to 'sell' Gazprom and Rosneft, with his commission, of course. The more the security services dismantle Russian refineries, oil, and gas pipelines, the lower their value becomes. I suspect that Trump may also take a pass on Ukraine here."

Be that as it may, at the moment, Mr. Trump is trying to take on the role of at least a universal player, if not a striker. The other day, without citing any specifics, he stated that he had achieved "huge progress" in the matter of peace settlement. "I think we have made enormous progress. We are dealing with the Russians. We are dealing with the Ukrainians. I think something will come of it. I hope," emphasized the current occupant of the Oval Office. "I think this will happen," clarified Trump, speaking about the possibility of negotiations between Ukraine and the aggressor country. As previously reported by Lenta.UA, recently the American leader told the New York Post that he had a phone conversation with Putin. At the same time, the spokesman for the Kremlin dictator, Peskov, noted that he could "neither confirm nor deny" this information.

Commenting on the systematic near-peaceful passages of the current occupant of the Oval Office on his authorial YouTube channel, renowned international journalist Vitaliy Portnikov notes the following: "Trump is confident that he can solve all problems through confidential talks with the Russian president. Because his concept is that the heads of large states negotiate among themselves, and all others agree at least with the main outlines of the decisions reached by such leaders. At the same time, we must realize that there are currently no specific agreements between Trump and Putin. And Trump has not had, does not have, and may not have a plan to end the Russian-Ukrainian war in the near future. If he had managed to reach any specific agreements with Putin indicating that the Russian-Ukrainian war could be ended without the American president losing face, the talks between the president of the United States and the president of the Russian Federation would have long since moved into the public sphere. And a meeting between them would have become more realistic, which also seems to be confidentially prepared in the White House and the Kremlin."

According to Portnikov, the fact that Trump and Putin communicate with each other, but no outlines of such an agreement are visible, again reminds us that it is easy to talk, but much harder to negotiate when both have "a completely different view of life." "While Trump would like to end the war in Europe and shift the responsibility for the security of the Ukrainian state onto his European allies, Putin would like to capture the Ukrainian state and create serious security threats for those European allies, hoping that Trump’s United States will finally leave the European continent. The fact that they may underestimate each other's ambitions and potential can be the foundation for both understanding between the two leaders and for a new serious conflict between the United States and Russia. A conflict that will encompass not only Ukraine but all of Europe if misunderstandings between Moscow and Washington grow due to the disappointment of both Trump and Putin in mutual contacts. However, this can only be understood over time. For now, we only know that Trump and Putin communicate with each other," summarized Vitaliy Portnikov.

Moreover, it has already become known that Trump spoke with both Putin and Zelensky. Moreover, judging by statements from the White House, Trump spoke with the Russian president for an hour and a half and was extremely satisfied with the dialogue. It is obvious that Washington has decided to accelerate the negotiation process as much as possible. However, what it will lead to is currently unclear.