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President Trump contends that the U.S. has provided Ukraine with at least $350 Billion in aid — and possibly much more than that.
Ukrainian President Zelensky contends that they have received only $100 Billion that he can be sure of, and he doesn’t know where the other $250 Billion went that Trump keeps talking about.
But that isn’t the only point of contention currently deepening the divide between President Trump and Zelensky.
There is also the issue of whether or not Ukraine should be on the hook for paying back ANY PART of the massive amount of aid provided to it from the U.S. and western nations.
And that divide is growing larger, it seems, after the comments Zelensky made today.
Speaking to a forum held in Kiev on Sunday, Zelensky said point blank that he would not recognize any of the aid sent from the U.S. as debt owed.
BREAKING: Ukraine President Zelensky proclaims the billions given to the country by the U.S. was a “grant, not a debt.” pic.twitter.com/pS0rpFu7Nb
— JOSH DUNLAP (@JDunlap1974) February 23, 2025
BREAKING: Ukraine President Zelensky proclaims the billions given to the country by the U.S. was a “grant, not a debt.” And that’s not the only thing he said that is sure to come as a slap in the face to President Trump and his administration.
Zelensky also took a swipe at President Trump, seemingly minimizing the impact of Trump’s Presidency on the Ukraine-Russia war.
Unlike a dictator or tyrant, President Trump won’t be serving an indefinite term without elections.
Zelensky appeared to twist that fact into a liability connected to any impact Trump may have on the situation.
Here’s a clip from the event:
Zelensky: Trump is not forever, but the Russian threat is permanent.
We don’t care that Putin won’t attack while Trump is in the office. We need peace and guarantees that will outlast Trump and Putin.
(The last phrase is not verbatim) 2/ pic.twitter.com/igoiVraY6j
— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) February 23, 2025
So not only is Zelensky leaning on the financial idiocy of the Biden administration to feign innocence when it comes to a responsibility to secure a “return on investment” of sorts for the American tax payers who will foot the bill for their unnecessary war…
But in essence he is now denying that President Trump carries any weight to create any real change within the situation.
Since President Trump is not a dictator, and will leave office — OR STAY — pending democratic elections… according to Zelensky he really isn’t able to bring the sides to a point of peace in which a resuming of hostilities would be too costly for any side.
NEW: Ukraine President Zelensky says the billions of dollars that were given to him by the U.S. was a grant, not a debt owed to the United States.
“I don’t even recognize $100 billion. We agreed with Biden that it was a grant, not a debt.”
The statement comes as the Trump… pic.twitter.com/qnAukWjPfz
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 23, 2025
But wait — it gets better!
Zelensky is also now claiming that the $350 Billion in Russian assets that the EU, UK, and United States has frozen… (drum roll)… is his.
That’s right. According to Zelensky, Ukraine maintains that those Russian funds are rightfully theirs to claim.
And he very specifically argued that they do not belong to the western nations whose financial institutions froze and seized those assets, according to a report in the Kiev Post:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that frozen Russian assets should belong solely to Ukraine, not Kyiv’s international partners.
“Frozen Russian assets are our money. It is our money, not shared with our partners,” Zelensky said during a press conference at the “Ukraine. The Year 2025” forum in Kyiv.
Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western countries have used sanctions and other financial mechanisms to freeze between $300 billion and $350 billion of Russian sovereign assets, mostly government bonds held in the EU, the US, and the UK.
Since then, many discussions have been held on developing mechanisms to use these funds for Ukraine’s post-war rebuilding.
Reuters reported on Friday, that Russia might be open to using some of the billions in frozen assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction but with one condition: Part of the money must be spent in the territories currently occupied by Russian forces.
This offer comes just days after Russia and the US held their first in-person talks about ending Moscow’s Ukraine invasion on Feb. 18 in Saudi Arabia.
It appears as though Zelensky’s comments and the timing of his focus on the frozen Russian assets is a direct response to the ongoing peace negotiations with Russia; negotiations which Ukraine has little to no involvement in.
It is likely, as Reuters reported, that those frozen funds are being used as a bargaining chip by President Trump to sweeten the deal, with the caveat that some large portion of them be used in the rebuilding of territories devastated by the Russian invasion.
And Zelensky — realizing that the deal is sounding more likely to happen every day — is attempting to throw a wrench into whatever portion of those dealings he can… before he personally loses all relevance.
To his credit, Zelensky did offer to step down in order to help the peace process. Though I have to wonder if that’s a real offer, or just his attempt to seem valiant in stepping down because he knows his time as President of Ukraine is coming to a close whether he likes it or not.
He also stated that in lieu of peace, he would be willing to step down from the Ukrainian Presidency in exchange for NATO membership — and the presumed protection of the entire federation which would immediately be fielded against the Russian forces in Ukraine.
BBC: Are you ready to step down for peace?
Zelensky: I am ready to step down for peace
If no peace, I am happy to step down in exchange for NATO for Ukraine
I am focused on security for Ukraine here and today and not staying in power for decades pic.twitter.com/3SZfnsiUYz
— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) February 23, 2025
Here’s the full text of his exchange with the BBC:
BBC: Are you ready to step down for peace?
Zelensky: I am ready to step down for peace
If no peace, I am happy to step down in exchange for NATO for Ukraine
I am focused on security for Ukraine here and today and not staying in power for decades.
Those comments seem to stem directly from Zelensky’s attempt to deflect from President Trump’s recent comments rebuking him for not holding elections.
Zelensky holds that NATO membership is “still on the table”, and offered to step down in order to bring that about, according to a report in the Washington Examiner:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he’s “ready” to resign if it means bringing peace to his country, also suggesting he could step down in exchange for ascension into the NATO alliance.
“If it’s about peace in Ukraine and you really want me to leave my position, I am ready to do that,” Zelensky said at a Kyiv press conference on Sunday. “Secondly, I can exchange it for NATO, if there is such an opportunity.”
The comments from Zelensky come in the aftermath of President Donald Trump‘s accusation that he is a “dictator without elections.”
“We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4% approval rating,” Trump said from Mar-a-Lago last Tuesday.
Ukraine has not held elections since the war began nearly three years ago because the government imposed martial law, and elections are not allowed under martial law in Ukraine. Zelensky’s term should have ended last year, and his approval rating is also disputed.
The Ukrainian leader also claimed that Ukraine’s ascension into NATO was “still on the table” during the “Ukraine. Year 2025” conference in Kyiv.
Regardless of the deals struck with the Biden administration, the fact is Ukraine has been the recipient of billions of dollars of US aid.
And every dime of that is billed directly to the American tax payer.
I have to side with one X user who pointed out: New Sheriff, new rules:
Panicked Zelensky Declares that by his agreement with Biden , Billions in our hard earned taxpayer’s $ was a Grant, Not Debt…
Note to Vlad – New Sheriff, new rules. Get over it. pic.twitter.com/vXFg4OL5wv
— VeBee
(@VeBo1991) It is very possible — even likely — that the Biden administration literally gave billions of money away to Ukraine completely unsecured and without any promise of future recouping mechanisms.
It is also very possible — a fact, even — that Biden isn’t in the White House anymore.
But that Russian-Ukrainian war is still going on.
And another fact to chew on is that Ukraine can’t survive without American help; not European help, or German help, or French help — AMERICAN HELP.
The Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion can not stand, and the country would collapse both economically and militarily, without the support provided by the United States.
Support that is still just as needed as ever, to which even Zelensky agreed.
It could be that Zelensky drops the tough-guy act and comes to the table, where he may find that President Trump would work with him for an end to the fighting in a way that benefits all parties — including the United States.
Or, it could be that Zelensky has played that tough-guy character slot for so long that President Trump has already written him off, and is determined to move forward without the liability that Zelensky now brings to the table.
Time will tell, but it appears Zelensky is a day late and a few billion dollars short.
Considering he will likely live out his days of exile in the French countryside… I’m no longer convinced he really cares.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.