No, they weren't grifting assholes like Trump. Zelensky won't sign natural resource deal that 'will be paid by 10 generations of Ukrainians'
Should anyone be surprised regarding Trump's proposal to extort Ukraine to pay for US aid to that country? Let's not forget that Trump was saying that US should have taken Iraq's petroleum reserves as compensation for our role in overthrowing Saddam Hussein. Trump's plan to seize Iraq's oil: 'It's not stealing, we're reimbursing ourselves' Trump’s "take the oil" madness Donald Trump's remedy for America: oil from Iraq to 'pay ourselves back'
Before the war Ukraine had one of the lowest gdp’s per capita in Europe. In 2020 their gdp was $200B. What trump is demanding or let them die, $500B, is roughly equivalent to someone demanding $75T from the US. And Trumps $500B is no where near what we gave them. Also a percentage of equipment we gave them was older armaments, even some Vietnam era. Hopefully it’s just his opening position.