Ukraine's President: Trump's demand to return $500 billion is "not serious"

The demand by US President Donald Trump for Ukraine to return $500 billion spent by the American government is an absurd conversation, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

According to Report, speaking at a press conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy addressed the discrepancy in the aid figures between the two nations.

"We need to sort out this assistance; we [Ukraine and the US] have completely different numbers. The war cost us $320 billion. Ukraine spent $120 billion, while the US and EU provided $200 billion in weapons packages. In total, the US has given us over $67 billion in weapons and $31.5 billion in direct budget assistance to date. But the talk about us having to return [to the US] $500 billion is not a serious conversation," he stated.

Zelenskyy's remarks come in response to Trump's recent statement, where he suggested that he might want to reclaim all the money spent on Ukraine by the American government, specifying that he would like to receive the equivalent in Ukrainian rare earth metals, amounting to approximately $500 billion.