Russian invasion Negotiations

Trump: Not important that Zelenskyj is in the talks

Donald Trump tells Fox News that it is not “particularly important” that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj participates in the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, reports AFP.

– He has been there for three years. He makes it very difficult to make a deal, says Trump.

Trump also says at a press conference that Ukraine does not have “any cards to play” in the negotiations.

– I have had good talks with Putin and I have had not so good talks with Ukraine, he says.

The US has had talks about a possible peace in Ukraine with Russia, which Ukraine has not participated in. This has caused severe criticism from Europe.

Donald Trump has also wrongly accused Ukraine of having started the war and called elected Volodymyr Zelenskyj a dictator.

Expert: Ukraine has no rare earth metals

The US is in the final stages of negotiations with Ukraine on rare earth metals in exchange for continued support, and Donald Trump has demanded metals worth $500 billion.

That sum is taken out of thin air, says Magnus Ericsson, adjunct professor at Luleå University of Technology and global consultant in the mining industry, to DN.

According to Ericsson, who has worked with mineral economics for five decades, the deposits of rare earth metals in Ukraine are small.

– There are neither mines nor known rare earth deposits in Ukraine.

According to Ericsson, Trump's bringing up the metals in negotiations may be due to the fact that China, the US's geopolitical opponent, has a large lead in production.

Trump: Will Not Celebrate Victory Day in Moscow

Donald Trump will not travel to Russia to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.

– I will not go to Moscow until May 9, he said, according to Reuters.

Victory Day, as the holiday is usually called, is celebrated in Russia in a big way and Putin has turned it into a propaganda party.

The Financial Times has previously reported, citing sources, that Donald Trump has been invited to Moscow to celebrate Victory Day with Putin. It was then stated as an opportunity to announce a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The French magazine Le Point reported earlier on Friday that Trump had accepted the invitation, but this is now being denied by the American president.

Reports: US Opposes War Tribunal Against Putin

Under Donald Trump, the US is standing in the way of several attempts to condemn Russia and Vladimir Putin's aggression in Ukraine. The Telegraph reports.

According to the newspaper's Western sources, around 40 countries have prepared a war tribunal against Vladimir Putin, not unlike the one held in Nuremberg against the Nazis after World War II. However, the US envoy to the group has reportedly refused to describe Russia as the aggressor in the war against Ukraine.

It is described as a severe blow not to have the US on board in the attempts to put Putin on trial, and there is reportedly concern in Europe that Putin could escape punishment for war crimes in Ukraine.

On Thursday, the Financial Times published information that the US did not want to participate in the G7 countries' annual condemnation of Russia's aggression. According to The Telegraph, the US position is the same regarding a similar statement from the UN.