A former Tory defence secretary has savaged Donald Trump’s deal to give Ukraine military support in exchange for access to the country’s valuable minerals.
Ben Wallace said the offer – which is set to be accepted by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – was “total extortion”.
Under the deal, it is understood that an “investment fund” would be set up by to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine once its war with Russia ends.
The fund would be managed by both Ukraine and the US, with Kyiv contributing 50% from the sale of state-owned mineral resources.
Trump claims that the US has given Kyiv between $300 and $350 billion in aid since the start of the war and he wants to “get that money back”.
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However, it is unclear what, if any, security guarantees Ukraine is getting from America as part of the deal.
Appearing on CNN, Wallace – who served as defence secretary under Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – said: “Donald Trump wants to prove to his electorate who have just sent him to the White House ‘I got something back’.
“That’s what the minerals deal seems to be about.”
Asked by presenter Christiane Amanpour for his view on the deal, he said: “I think it’s extortion. It’s total extortion. The United States and Europe gave most of the aid [to Ukraine] on condition of gifting, certainly the military equipment.
“Having gifted old equipment predominantly, we re-armed ourselves with new equipment. If you look at the spend America claims, a lot of it was actually in the Pentagon and also a lot of it was with American companies manufacturing for Ukraine.
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“The United States quite rightly recycled that dollar, made employment with it, so I’m not sure [Trump] has a right to extort anything from Ukraine, who are desperate and trying to survive.”
Wallace’s comments put him at odd with his close ally Boris Johnson, who has said the minerals deal is “reasonable”.
“That commits the US not only to future financing of Ukraine, but also to a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine under Donald Trump and that is not to be sneezed at,” the former PM said from Kyiv.
“People will say ’oh this deal is extortionate for Ukraine and America is being too rapacious, but not a penny can flow from this investment fund that is going to be set up unless you have a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine.”
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Johnson said America “has a history of demanding a price for its support and from where I stand today I think that price for Ukraine is reasonable”.
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