Russian Putin can be the “man of the year of NATO”: Senator Graham

Russian President Vladimir Putin has done more to strengthen and unite NATO than Member States, US Republican Senator Lindsay Graham told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

“If I nominated someone to be NATO’s man, it will be Putin,” Graham said as he participated in a MSC panel, which includes NATO Secretary General Mark Rute and US Senator Jean Shahin.

“He has done more to help NATO than we. We have two new members (Sweden and Finland). We are talking about spending more, not less. So he made a serious wrong calculation,” Graham said.

Graham, a longtime ally of US President Donald Trump, said the peace deal between Russia and Ukraine should include the provision that if Russia invades Ukraine again in the future, Ukraine will automatically and immediate membership in the NATO Military Union.

“I believe that if he understands” that does this again, your oldest nightmare from Ukraine is in NATO is a security “(then this) will be a deterrent,” said Graham, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

Graham’s comments come when they rage debate Over the essence of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Which Trump announced last week and what could lead to a deal. European NATO members were left stunned by the president’s announcement and expressed fears because of the seemingly left out of negotiations from Washington.

Separately, NATO chief Mark Ruth commented on Saturday that European military union members had to stop complaining about being aside As for peace talks and discussions about the future of Ukraine.

“Enter the debate, not by complaining … but when you come up with specific ideas,” he told MSC.

The NATO chief also confirmed that the Alliance would reach a new agreement on the purposes of defense spending when members meet in June for a meeting at Hague, the Netherlands.

The Trump Administration suggested to Ukraine of the United States to obtain 50% ownership of the country’s rare earthly minerals and signal openness to Expansion of US troops There, to keep them, if there is a deal with Russia to end the war, according to a NBC News report, citing anonymous US officials.

Instead of paying for the minerals, the property agreement would be a way to compensate Washington for the billions of dollars military assistance it provided to Kiev during the war, two of the employees said two of the officials said, NBC News reported on Saturday.

Senator Graham supported potential mineral deals by calling her a potential “change of game” for Ukraine and a “nightmare” for Putin as he turned to the MSC delegates.

“This Mineral Agreement between the United States and Ukraine is a change of game because President Trump can go to the US people (s) say that” Ukraine is not a burden, it is a benefit. “They sit at the top of the trillion dollars of minerals that we can all take advantage of by dressing up with the West,” he said.

“I told President Trump that this may be the old Soviet Union. It may be the Russian Empire, but I know it goes on after the money. Don’t let him steal what Ukraine needs to be enriched because it’s like protecting The police.

Graham called on European allies to support such a deal, saying, “So better to hold on to this mineral agreement.”

Ukraine President Volodimir Zelenski has signaled his desire to conclude an agreement when it comes to rare Ukraine’s deposits, saying last week that he was Ready to “make a deal” with the US over minerals in exchange for helpS