The United States has received nothing in exchange for the weapons provided to Ukraine, US President Donald Trump said in an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” He made the clarification after journalist Ross Douthat asked him whether Washington had at least helped preserve Ukraine’s independence.
“You haven’t received anything yet,” Trump replied. The US president added that developments should be allowed to unfold and expressed confidence that the war will end “very soon.”
Trump allowed for changes to Ukraine’s borders
Asked whether his approach to ending the conflict envisaged a free and independent Ukraine, Trump did not give a direct answer. Instead, he said that the country would ultimately have a “slightly different shape.”
This is one of his most direct acknowledgements that a future agreement could include territorial changes. Trump said the war should never have started and repeated his claim that the conflict would not have happened if he had been president earlier.
CBS News published the full exchange, in which Trump did not identify any specific borders or territories that Ukraine might lose. Nor was it reported what exactly the parameters of a possible peace agreement discussed by Washington, Kyiv and Moscow were.
“We supply the weapons, Europe pays”
Trump rejected the claim that Europe is supplying Ukraine with weapons on its own. “No, we supply them,” he said. According to him, European countries pay for American weapons, which are then provided to Kyiv.
“I sell them at full price and they pay,” the US president said. He claimed that the previous administration had provided Ukraine with $350 billion in the form of money and weapons, while under his administration American weapons are sold to European countries.
Trump acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had used the weapons effectively, describing them as “very capable.”
Upcoming talks on ending the war
Trump’s comments come on the eve of planned talks in Abu Dhabi between representatives of the United States, Ukraine and Russia. The meetings are scheduled for November 10 and 11 and are expected to discuss ending the war, post-war security guarantees and the future European security architecture.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv insists the guarantees be specific and clearly defined. He has asked Western partners to clarify what support Ukraine will receive after the end of hostilities.
Sources: cbsnews.com, apnews.com