Ukraine may be Russian someday: Trump ahead of Vance-Zelenskyy meet

The comments were made ahead of a meeting between Trump's Vice President, JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, scheduled for this week.

According to CNN's report, Trump, who has repeatedly questioned the US's role in supporting Ukraine, discussed his administration's efforts to end the war with Russia.

"They (Ukraine) may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday," Trump said in his interview with Fox News.

The US President further noted that he wanted to see a return on the US aid to Ukraine, suggesting that Ukraine could offer something in return, such as rare earth minerals, as reported by CNN. "I want to have our money secured," he said during his interview.

Further, CNN in its report stated that these remarks of Trump are likely to please the Kremlin, which has illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions since launching its invasion.

According to the report, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov echoed Trump's sentiments and said, "A significant part of Ukraine wants to become Russia, and the fact that it has already become Russia is (undeniable)."

The Russian invasion, which began in February 2022, was expected to quickly overwhelm Ukraine. However, nearly three years into the conflict, Russia controls only about one-fifth of Ukraine's territory.

In 2023, Moscow conducted a controversial referendum in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, attempting to legitimise its annexation of these territories. "Despite many dangers, [people] stood in line and voted" in the referendum, Peskov added.

The referendum, however, was dismissed as a "propaganda exercise" by international observers, as reported by CNN.

In the Fox News interview, Trump also expressed that his administration had made "tremendous progress" in laying the groundwork for potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy mentioned that "some serious people" from the Trump administration would visit Ukraine this week ahead of the Munich Security Conference, where he is expected to meet with Vance. Trump also reiterated his interest in securing a return on US investment in Ukraine, particularly in terms of the country's resources.

"They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas, in terms of other things," Trump told Fox News.

Trump's comments also addressed his desire to secure US investments in exchange for continued support. "I told them that I want the equivalent, like USD 500 billion of rare earth, and they've essentially agreed to do that, so at least we don't feel stupid," he said. "Otherwise we're stupid. I said to them, we have to get something. We can't continue to pay this money," Trump added.

However, according to CNN, the Biden administration's stance that US support for Ukraine is driven by the need to defend "the right of people to determine their own futures" and the principle that "a country can't change its neighbor's borders by force."

Further, as per the report, Trump's comments are like a "boon" to Russian President Vladimir Putin's claims that Russians and Ukrainians are "one people - a single whole" and that "Ukraine is not a sovereign nation."

These views could give Putin's agenda a boost, as he has long sought to justify his invasion of Ukraine by asserting that the country is part of Russia, the CNN report added.

With European leaders preparing for meetings with senior members of the Trump administration in Munich this week, Poland's President Andrzej Duda responded to Trump's comments, emphasising that Russia "cannot draw benefit" from its war in Ukraine. Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Duda said that in a "perfect scenario, Ukraine should regain all the land that is occupied by Russia today."

However, he also acknowledged that the priority now is to ensure that "the war is stopped" and not according to "Russian conditions," as reported by CNN.