President Macron publicly refuted Trump’s claim that the situation was ‘unfair’ to the United States.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron, following extensive discussions with European leaders over the past few days, met with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House in a bid to let the collective voice of Europe on the Ukraine crisis be heard.

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Despite the outwardly cordial atmosphere, the meeting underscored a noticeable divide between Europe and the United States on how to achieve a comprehensive resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.

NOTICEABLE DIVIDE

On Monday, Trump and Macron agreed on realizing lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia, but Macron publicly refuted Trump’s claim that the situation was “unfair” to the United States in terms of how the country and its European allies provided aid to Ukraine.

“Just so you understand, Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They’re getting their money back,” Trump said as he made the case for Washington’s ongoing effort to press Ukraine into signing a deal that would give the United States the right to extract Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as a way to recoup the aid money provided by Washington during the conflict.

Grabbing Trump’s arm to interject, Macron said, “No, in fact, to be frank, we paid. We paid 60 percent of the total effort.” He went on to clarify that European aid to Ukraine was structured similarly to American aid. “It was like the United States: loans, guarantees, grants.”

Shrugging off Macron’s interjection, Trump said, “If you believe that, it’s OK with me. They get their money back, and we don’t. But now we do.”

COVETING UKRAINE’S MINERAL WEALTH

On Monday, Trump said that he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “this week or next” at the White House, and that a final deal on “rare earths and various other things” was very close.

Separately, European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stephane Sejourne said on Monday that during a visit to Kiev, together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, he offered Ukrainian officials a mutually beneficial agreement on critical minerals.

“Twenty-one of the 30 critical materials that Europe needs can be provided by Ukraine as part of a mutually beneficial partnership,” Sejourne said after a meeting with Ukrainian officials, AFP reported.

“The added value that Europe offers is that we will never demand a deal that is not mutually beneficial,” he added.

A STRONGER PARTNER

During his talks with Trump in Washington, Macron said that Europe is ready to become a stronger partner and do more in terms of defense.

“As Europeans, we have committed to being stakeholders in these security guarantees,” Macron said, noting that European peacekeeping troops could be one of the guarantees for a long-standing peace in Ukraine.

“We want peace swiftly, but we don’t want an agreement that is weak,” he said, adding Europeans understand they need to do more to strengthen regional security.

For Trump, the cost and burden of security must be borne by Europe and not the United States alone. He has made clear that no U.S. boots will be on the ground in Ukraine. However, he assured his French counterpart that Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept the presence of European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine.

After almost three decades of reducing defense spending, Europe has been stepping up its own defense in recent years. According to statistics published by the European Council, between 2021 and 2024, the European Union (EU) member states’ total defense expenditure rose by more than 30 percent.

In 2024, it reached an estimated 326 billion euros (US$341.3 billion), about 1.9 percent of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP). Expenditure is expected to rise by more than another 100 billion euros (US$105 billion) in real terms by 2027. 

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Xinhua

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