WASHINGTON, April 1. /TASS/. Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for an agreement on the development of Ukrainian minerals was not discussed; the Ukrainian conflict could have started because of the Kiev authorities' aspirations to join the alliance, US President Donald Trump said.
"I heard through you [reporters], I haven't spoken to them yet, but through you, I heard that they're now saying, ‘Well, I'll only do that deal if we get into NATO’ or something to that effect. Well, number one, that was never discussed. Number two, I think it's going to be very long before [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, they said you [Ukraine] are not going into NATO. And it could be that's probably the reason the war started, actually," the head of state said while answering reporters' questions at the White House.
According to the US leader, Vladimir Zelensky is trying to renegotiate the agreement with the US on the development of Ukraine's mineral resources.
"You have Zelensky, and hopefully he's going to live up [his end of the deal]. I see he's trying to renegotiate the rare earth [deal]. You know, we did something because, as you know, the Europeans get paid back the money that they gave it (Kiev - TASS). We don't, because [former US President Joe] Biden is an incompetent president, and he should have asked for rare earth, or he should have asked for the loans to be guaranteed in some form," Trump said.