On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) stated that the minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine appears positive and he appreciates President Donald Trump changing his approach.
Merkley said, “Well, what I really like is it creates a partnership between the Trump administration and Ukraine, which is such an improvement from where we’d been, where Trump was essentially mimicking or mouthing all of the talking points that Putin wanted him to mouth. And it does have elements that we’ve heard about that sound good. It’s not demanding that Ukraine repay us for the aid that we’ve provided so far. It doesn’t ban them from joining the European Union. It creates an investment fund that both parties will put money into. So, the outlines of it — I don’t know about all the details — but the outlines of it are positive. But the biggest positive is a partnership that has been forged with this administration and Ukraine.”
Co-host Kate Bolduan then asked, “Do you applaud President Trump for pulling it off?”
Merkley answered, “Well, I appreciate the change in tone and the change in commitment. We really saw kind of with the body language at the funeral, at the pope’s funeral in Italy, that there was a different dynamic at work. And what all went into that change of that dynamic, I’m not sure. But thank you, President Trump, for changing your approach.”
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