The German chancellor had already described Trump’s demands as “very selfish” after a European Union summit in Brussels
German chancellor Olaf Scholz slammed as “selfish and self-serving” Donald Trump’s demands for Ukrainian rare earths in exchange for US military aid, in an interview published on Saturday.
Rare earths group metals used to transform power into motion in a vast array of things ranging from electric vehicles to missiles and there is no substitute for them.
“Ukraine is under attack and we are helping it, without asking to be paid in return. This should be everyone’s position,” Scholz told the RND media group, when asked about Trump’s demands for a possible quid pro quo for US aid.
The German chancellor had already described Trump’s demands as “very selfish” on Monday after a European Union summit in Brussels.
He had said Ukraine’s resources should be used to finance everything needed after the war, such as reconstruction and maintaining a strong army.
“It would be very selfish, very self-serving” to demand something from Ukraine in exchange for aid, he said.
Trump had said he wanted “equalization” from Ukraine for Washington financial support, adding: “We’re telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earths. We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earths and other things.”
He added: “I want to have security of rare earth. We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth. And I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do it.”
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Washington and Kyiv were planning “meetings and talks,” after Trump raised a possible meeting with him next week.
Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine was ready to receive investment from US firms in its rare earths — or metals widely used in electronics.
In a peace plan unveiled in October, Zelensky had, without specifically mentioning rare earths, proposed a “special agreement” with his country’s partners, allowing for “common protection” and “joint exploitation” of strategic resources.
He had cited as examples “uranium, titanium, lithium, graphite and other strategic resources of great value.”
Support for free and safe Syria
Meanwhile, Scholz told Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on Friday that Berlin was ready to support the transition to a “free and safe” future after the ouster of Bashar Assad.
Scholz expressed Berlin’s “willingness to support the reconstruction of Syria so that Syria can become a free and safe home for all” in an hour-long conversation with Al-Sharaa, the chancellor’s spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, said in a statement.
In his first call with the new Syrian leader, Scholz “congratulated the Syrian people on their success in ending the Assad regime’s reign of terror.”
Al-Sharaa was appointed as Syria’s president at the end of January after militants toppled Assad, ending more than five decades of the family’s iron-fisted rule.
Scholz told the new Syrian leader he needed to lead an “inclusive political process … that allows all Syrians, regardless of their ethnic or religious group,to participate.”
The chancellor also stressed “the ongoing importance of the fight against terrorism for security in Syria,” according to the statement.
Scholz said that Germany would work with European and international partners in this regard.
Al-Sharaa has been invited to visit Germany, his office said on Friday following the phone call.
The invitation came two days after Al-Sharaa’s office announced he had been invited to visit France.
Scholz and Al-Sharaa agreed on Syria’s need for an inclusive political process that allows the participation of all Syrians and provides rights and protection, the German spokesperson said.
“The Federal Chancellor underlined the ongoing importance of the fight against terrorism for security in Syria, the region and worldwide,” the spokesperson added.
Al-Sharaa has made a push to rebuild Syria’s diplomatic ties since his Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, spearheaded the overthrow of Assad.
However, the country faces a difficult transition amid unresolved territorial and governance challenges. Armed forces in the south, including from the Druze minority, have responded cautiously to the new authority in Damascus.
Also on Friday, Human Rights Watch warned that US aid suspensions could worsen “life-threatening conditions” in camps holding relatives of suspected extremists in northeast Syria, urging Washington to maintain support.
Kurdish-run camps and prisons in the region still hold around 56,000 people with alleged or perceived links to Daesh, years after the extremists’ territorial defeat.
They include suspects locked up in prisons, as well as the wives and children of Daesh fighters held in the Al-Hol and Roj internment camps.
“The US government’s suspension of foreign aid to non-governmental organizations operating in these camps is exacerbating life-threatening conditions, risking further destabilization of a precarious security situation,” HRW said in a statement.
The rights group said the aid freeze could “limit the provision of essential services for camp residents,” citing international humanitarian workers.
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