{"id":128789,"date":"2025-03-05T07:59:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T07:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-trump-boasts-about-zelensky-letter-praising-him-and-offering-to-sign-minerals-deal-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-03-05T07:59:54","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T07:59:54","slug":"ukraine-russia-war-latest-trump-boasts-about-zelensky-letter-praising-him-and-offering-to-sign-minerals-deal-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-trump-boasts-about-zelensky-letter-praising-him-and-offering-to-sign-minerals-deal-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump boasts about Zelensky letter praising him and offering to sign minerals deal – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Trump ‘appreciates’ Zelensky sending him letter with commitment to start peace talks as soon as possible
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Donald Trump<\/a> has said he received a letter from Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> praising his “strong leadership”, after the two publicly clashed in the Oval Office.<\/a>
The US president boasted in an address to Congress<\/a> that he “appreciated” Mr Zelensky sending the letter<\/a>, which expressed willingness to come to the negotiating table<\/a> and end the war as soon as possible.
There was no direct mention of a rare earth minerals deal<\/a> in Mr Trump’s speech, although he quoted Mr Zelensky’s letter as saying Ukraine<\/a> was ready to sign.
Mr Trump again refused to blame Russia<\/a> for starting the war in his remarks, bemoaning the loss of “young Russian lives” before “young Ukrainian lives”.
It comes as the Ukrainian president bowed to intense pressure from president Trump after the US suspended all military aid to Kyiv<\/a>.
Mr Zelensky called the pair\u2019s explosive White House<\/a> meeting \u201cregrettable\u201d and pledged to enter peace talks as he desperately tried to salvage the perilous situation facing his armed forces.
Sources have told The Independent<\/em> that Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s supplies of US Patriot missiles could leave it unable to defend itself in a matter of days.
European Union leaders will discuss on Thursday how to finance a sharp increase in defence readiness to deter any possible future attack from Russia and become less dependent for security on the United States.
The European Commission on Tuesday proposed several ways to raise the funds that would add up to around 800 billion euros over several years.
But how can they do this?
Relax EU spending rules<\/strong>
The Commission proposed that defence spending be exempt from EU laws that put annual spending limits on governments to protect EU public finances and the value of the euro currency.
Not all EU governments support the idea, as they say special treatment for defence spending already exists in the rules. What is missing, they say, is a broader definition of defence investment, an issue they would prefer to focus on.
The Commission estimated that if EU governments were to increase their defence spending by 1.5% of GDP on average, it would create fiscal space of close to 650 billion euros over four years. The downside is that such borrowing would widen budget deficits and could worry bond investors, economists said.
Money from the EU\u2019s 2021-2027 budget<\/strong>
The current seven-year EU budget of 1.2 trillion euros, created well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has no proper funds for defence.
But around one-third of it is earmarked to equalise the standard of living between regions in the 27-nation EU – the so-called cohesion funds – and some of that cash can be used for projects that would be somehow linked to defence, like shelters for civilians or strengthening roads and bridges to allow the passage of tanks.
“We will propose additional possibilities and incentives for Member States that they will decide, if they want to use cohesion policy programmes, to increase defence spending,” the Commission said.
Trump criticised EU countries for not spending enough<\/strong>
President Trump has continuously criticised European countries for not spending enough money on defence.
In his address to Congress, he blasted European countries once again for spending \u201cmore money buying Russian oil and gas\u201d than on \u201cdefending Ukraine\u201d.
He said: \u201cI want (the war in Ukraine) to stop.
\u201cEurope has sadly spent more money buying Russian oil and gas than they have spent on defending Ukraine, by far.
\u201cThink of that. And we\u2019ve spent perhaps 350 billion dollars, like taking candy from a baby. That\u2019s what happened.
\u201cAnd they\u2019ve spent 100 billion dollars, what a difference that is. And we have an ocean separating us.\u201d
Boasts he received a letter from Zelensky<\/strong>
President Trump said: \u201cEarlier today I received a very important letter from President (Volodymyr) Zelensky of Ukraine.
\u201cThe letter reads: \u2018Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians\u2019.\u201d
Continuing to quote the letter, Mr Trump said: \u201c\u2018My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump\u2019s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts. We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time that is convenient for you\u2019.
\u201cI appreciate that he sent this letter\u2026 we\u2019ve had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace. Wouldn\u2019t that be beautiful?\u201d
\u2018Time to stop the madness\u2019 <\/strong>
\u201cIt\u2019s time to stop this madness,\u201d Mr Trump told Congress.
\u201cIt\u2019s time to halt the killing. It\u2019s time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars you have to talk to both sides.\u201d
France is working on re-establishing the link between the US and Ukraine so that a “lasting and robust peace” can be obtained, government spokesperson Sophie Primas said today.
“We have proposed a truce. That is what is being studied within the negotiations with the United States. France and Europe are trying to reestablish a link between the United States and Ukraine,” Ms Primas told LCI television.
President Emmanuel Macron has said France and Britain are proposing a partial one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine as part of European diplomacy efforts following the acrimonious meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and president Donald Trump in the Oval Office last Friday.
British defence minister John Healey will meet US defence secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington tomorrow to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine, Britain’s ministry of defence said.
After meetings with world leaders at the weekend, British prime minister Keir Starmer said he would continue to speak with friends and allies to secure a path to a lasting peace.
“We will advance that work in Washington over the coming days,” Healey said in a statement today.
The foreign secretary\u2019s visit comes as European leaders race to draw up a peace plan to present to Washington after Donald Trump paused military aid to Ukraine on Monday following a fallout with Volodymyr Zelensky.
Donald Trump made no direct reference to his pausing of US military aid for Ukraine during his address to Congress, though he did bemoan the “hundreds of billions” of dollars already spent.
His tactic \u2013 to threaten to withdraw US weapons \u2013 appears to have earned him a commitment from Volodymyr Zelensky to enter negotiations to end the war.
Mr Trump’s $350bn figure is disputed, but he is correct that the US has been Ukraine\u2019s biggest military backer since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion began three years ago.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, the US has been providing Ukraine with \u201cartillery ammunition, armoured vehicles, towed howitzers, Patriot air defence batteries, and long-range rocket and missile systems such as HIMARS and ATACMS \u2014 many of which are sophisticated systems that only the United States can supply.\u201d
\u201cPauses in this aid will harm Ukraine’s warfighting capabilities, although it will likely take from weeks to months for the suspension of US aid to affect the frontline,\u201d the ISW said.
Democrat leader Elissa Slotkin, a first-term senator from Michigan, has called out Donald Trump\u2019s efforts on the Ukraine war, saying that he would have lost the US the Cold War.
\u201cPresident Trump loves to promise \u2018peace through strength.\u2019 That’s actually a line he stole from Ronald Reagan. But let me tell you, after the spectacle that just took place in the Oval Office last week, Reagan must be rolling over in his grave,\u201d she said in a democrat rebuke to the US president\u2019s address to the Congress.
She went on: \u201cWe all want an end to the war in Ukraine, but Reagan understood that true strength required America to combine our military and economic might with moral clarity. And that scene in the Oval Office wasn’t just a bad episode of reality TV. It summed up Trump’s whole approach to the world.\u201d
\u201cHe believes in cozying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin and kicking our friends, like Canada, in the teeth. He sees American leadership as merely a series of real estate transactions,\u201d Ms Slotkin said.
\u201cAs a Cold War kid, I’m thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s. Trump would have lost us the Cold War. Donald Trump’s actions suggest that, in his heart, he doesn’t believe we are an exceptional nation. He clearly doesn’t think we should lead the world,\u201d she said.
Donald Trump was evidently pleased enough with Volodymyr Zelensky’s letter to read it out in full during his address to Congress.
Here’s what it said, as per the US president’s delivery: “Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.
\u201cNobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.
\u201cWe do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence.
“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time that is convenient for you.”
Donald Trump has said Ukraine is ready for peace and repeated his words that it is time to \u201cend this senseless war\u201d.
“Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians,” Mr Trump said in an address to Congress on Tuesday while quoting from the letter.
Mr Trump also said he had been in “serious discussions with Russia” and had “received strong signals that they are ready for peace”.
“Wouldn’t that be beautiful?” he said. “It’s time to stop this madness. It’s time to halt the killing. It’s time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars you have to talk to both sides,\u201d he said today.
Mr Trump was expected to further outline his plans for Ukraine and Russia in the speech to Congress, but did not reveal any further details on how he plans to end Europe’s biggest conflict since the Second World War.
He also said Ukraine was ready to sign a minerals deal with the US.
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