By AAMER MADHANI, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance is making the case that a U.S.-Ukraine critical minerals deal is a more practical deterrent against Russian President Vladimir Putin than an international security force for post-war Ukraine proposed by key allies Britain and France.
Vance said in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity aired Monday evening that the pact that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals “is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.”
The comments throw the spotlight again on differences between President Donald Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. The European leaders have called for a post-conflict peacekeeping force in Ukraine to prevent Russia invading again if Moscow and Kyiv reach a truce to put a stop to Russia’s invasion, launched in February 2022.
“The president knows that, look, if you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine,” Vance added.
The Republican vice president did not mention any particular country in his skeptical comments to Hannity about the effectiveness of a potential peacekeeping mission. But in a posting on X on Tuesday, Vance looked to head off any criticism by noting that Britain and France “have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond.”
French troops deployed to Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. And British troops have served alongside American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and in a U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group.
Vance’s comments came in an interview recorded hours before a White House official confirmed on Monday evening that Trump directed a pause of U.S. assistance to Ukraine as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia.
Trump remains frustrated with Zelenskyy. He again criticized the Ukrainian leader on Monday after Zelenskyy said that reaching an agreement with Russia to end the conflict likely “is still very, very far away.”
Trump administration and Ukrainian officials, during Zelenskyy’s White House visit last week, had been expected to sign off on a deal that would have given the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals in part to pay back the U.S. for aid it has sent Kyiv since the start of the war.
But that plan was scrapped as the visit was ended abruptly after Trump and Vance had a heated exchange with Zelenskyy during Oval Office talks at the start of the visit.
Ukraine is believed to have deposits of strategically important minerals — including titanium. lithium and manganese — that could be useful for American aerospace, electric vehicle and medical manufacturing.
Trump hasn’t given up all hope of reaching an agreement. And the White House has billed such a pact as a way to tighten U.S.-Ukrainian relations in the long term.
Trump on Monday called the proposal “a great deal” for the U.S. and Ukraine and signaled that he would speak to it during his Tuesday address before a joint session of Congress.
Starmer says that “a mineral deal is not enough on its own” to ensure Ukraine’s security. The British prime minister has no illusions about U.S. troops taking part in a potential peacekeeping mission.
Starmer, who met with Trump last week, and others are trying to make the case to Trump that the plan can only work with a U.S. backstop for European forces on the ground — through U.S. aerial intelligence, surveillance and support, as well as rapid-response cover in case of breaches of a truce.
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