Trump calls Ukraine a 'buffer,' repeats mythical $350 billion claim

Trump stated that security guarantees would be provided to Ukraine, but it would definitely not be NATO. According to him, Ukraine has always been "sort of a buffer between Russia and the rest of Europe."

"It can't be NATO... If you were Russia, who would want have your enemy, your opponent, sitting on your line? You don't do that. It was always thought that Ukraine was a sort of a buffer between Russia and the rest of Europe. And it was a big and wide buffer. Everything worked well until Biden (the 46th US president Joseph Biden, – ed.) got involved," he said.

Then Trump began to get confused with the numbers. According to the US president, Biden allegedly gave Ukraine $100 billion. But immediately after that, he returned to his favorite and repeatedly debunked the mythical figure of "350 billion."

According to Trump’s version, now the "350 billion" that the US allegedly gave Ukraine was. Trump was unable to explain this in any way.

"First of all, I made a deal to take rare earths, that'sis the equivalent of much more than the 350 billion that Biden got away, because I felt so foolish... And I was able to make a deal with Ukraine. And they were very nice. They have great rare earths, among of the best in the world. And we took much more than 350 billion," the US president said.

Trump made a series of statements

During his interview, Trump confirmed that several European countries plan to deploy their troops in Ukraine after the end of the war with Russia. However, American soldiers will not join them.

Trump also stated that he will not participate in the first meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. In his opinion, they should meet and reach an agreement on their own.

The US president added that as a result of the agreements, if everything goes well, Ukraine will get "a lot of land." But for this, Zelenskyy needs to "show flexibility."