United States National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said on Feb. 9 that U.S. officials will discuss the future of Washington's financial support for Ukraine during meetings in Europe this week.
Waltz's comments come ahead of the Munich Security Conference, scheduled for Feb. 14-16. President Volodymyr Zelensky will head Ukraine's delegation, while the U.S. will be represented by Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, will also attend the conference.
Waltz told NBC News that "the future of U.S. aid to Ukraine" was among President Donald Trump's priorities for the coming talks.
"We need to recoup those costs," Waltz said.
"And that is going to be a partnership with the Ukrainians, in terms of their rare earths, their natural resources, and their oil and gas, and also buying ours. Those conversations are going to happen this week."
The future of U.S. aid to Kyiv has been murky since Trump won re-election in November with promises to swiftly end the war and get America "out" of the conflict. Previously approved weapons packages from the U.S. are about to run out, and neither Trump nor Congress have allocated any new military aid to Ukraine.
In recent days, Trump has suggested that new aid shipments might depend on trade deals that the U.S. negotiates with Ukraine. Trump said on Feb. 3 that he wanted to offer Ukraine weapons and aid in return for "rare earths and other things."
Zelensky has said he's open to an arrangement that would grant U.S. companies access to Ukraine's reserves of rare earth minerals in exchange for Washington's continued support.
Kateryna Denisova
Waltz also said that Europe would need to take on a greater role in Ukraine's defense.
"I think an underlying principle here is that the Europeans have to own this conflict going forward," he said.
"President Trump is going to end it, and then in terms of security guarantees, that is squarely going to be with the Europeans."
According to Waltz, Trump is prepared to impose sanctions against Russia in order to pressure Moscow to the negotiating table.
"Russia's economy is not doing well. (Trump) is prepared to tax, to tarrif, to sanction. We need to get all sides to the table to end this war," he said.
Trump has been engaging other world leaders in his efforts to bring about a ceasefire, Waltz said. He claimed that Trump has recently discussed the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and "leaders across the Middle East."
Waltz declined to comment on Trump's recent claim, reported in the New York Post, that he has personally discussed ending the war in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Waltz did not confirm or deny that such a conversation had taken place.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
(Updated: )
