French President Emmanuel Macron agrees that Europe must join the United States in bearing the “cost and burden of securing the peace” between Russia and Ukraine, President Donald Trump said Monday.
Macron and Trump met on the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Trump said “would never have happened if I was president” in February 2022.
“Europe must take that central role in assuring the long-term security of Ukraine, which they want to do,” Trump said. “And that’s not a very big step. A big step is what’s going to happen over the next few weeks.”
Trump said the U.S. has contributed more aid to Ukraine than any other nation, adding that he hopes at some point to equalize that.
“And while we give advanced amounts of military aid and money in the form of grants, much of Europe’s contribution has been economic relief structured as loans for which they’ll be repaid,” Trump said. “Like the Europeans, I believe that taxpayers of the United States also presume to reboot the colossal amounts of money that we sent.”
Macron said he is “aware Europeans need to do more” to bear “the security burden your country has been carrying for so many years.”
Trump advocated for his proposed deal with Ukraine on critical rare earth minerals.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” he said. “I had reports just given to you before walking in, and we’ve made a great deal of progress for getting that.”
Trump said it’s in the best interest of the U.S., Europe, Ukraine, and Russia to “stop the killing now.”
“My administration is making a decisive break with the foreign policy values of the past administration, and frankly, the past,” he said. “I ran against a very foolish foreign policy establishment, and their recklessness has led to the death of many, many people. Under our administration, we’re forging a new path that promotes peace around the world.”
This article was originally published at www.dailysignal.com
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