US provided Ukraine with $100 billion in aid, not $500 billion, Zelensky says
Ukraine's wartime military costs have amounted to $320 billion, with the U.S. and the EU providing $200 billion of that sum in defense support, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 19.
"We, the people of Ukraine, (covered) $120 billion, the U.S. and the EU — $200 billion. We are talking about arms, this is a weapons package worth $320 billion," Zelensky said during a press conference in Kyiv.
The comments came following U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that Kyiv has "essentially" agreed to a deal on $500 billion in Ukraine's natural resources in exchange for Washington's support.
Trump has also repeatedly made unsubstantiated and contradicting claims about the value of assistance the U.S. has provided to Ukraine since 2022, most recently putting the figure at $350 billion.
"In total, the U.S. separately gave us about $67 billion in weapons, and we received $31.5 billion in budget support," Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine is grateful for the provided support.
"But one cannot count up to $500 billion and say, 'give us back $500 billion in minerals,' that's not a serious discussion."
Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine is ready to discuss the U.S.-proposed deal on natural resources as long as Washington provides security guarantees.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a draft of the agreement to Zelensky on Feb. 12, but Ukraine refused to sign unless the document included clear security commitments.
Martin Fornusek
