It will be important for the United States and Ukraine to maintain an economic relationship, potentially through a deal for Ukraine's rare earth materials and natural resources, former Rep. Pete King said on Newsmax Sunday.
But the agreements, which could come as part of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, must not end in a temporary truce, the New York Republican told Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend."
"I think the important thing is that whatever concessions are made on either side, that it is not a temporary truce," King said. "This has to be certain permanence to it, and I think you have to have some sort of forces on the border between Russia and Ukraine."
King's comments came in response to national security advisor Mike Waltz's discussion earlier this week of a proposal made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy concerning an economic agreement on his country's natural resources.
Waltz said that the United States needs to recoup the costs it incurred in assisting Ukraine in the war, and said the Europeans "have to own this conflict going forward."
"I agree with Mike Waltz," King said. "I think it's important to have this economic relationship between the United States and Ukraine because it establishes a much firmer relationship between our two countries. I think these talks are going to be very productive. Hopefully, it will lead to peace."
Meanwhile, it must also be made clear that Russia was the aggressor in the war, he said.
"We can't be treating them as moral equals, but in the end, we have to have a common-sense solution," King added.
Former Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., also on Sunday's show, further called to have all parties, Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, at the negotiation table.
He noted that when President Donald Trump was a candidate about two years ago, he refused to call Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal because then, he wouldn't negotiate if he knew he'd be prosecuted after a peace agreement.
"We don't like it," Kingston said."That's not democracy as we know it. But that's the world as it is, and we've got to deal with that."
He added that he doesn't think it's ideal to negotiate for Ukraine's materials, but "if we go through idealism so often, we lose American lives, the American tax dollars, and at the end of it we don't get anything out of it. I think there should be some sort of return because of our involvement."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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