Trump’s Demands for Excessive ‘Payback’ from War-Torn Ukraine

President Trump’s insistence that Ukraine relinquish a significant portion of its economy as reimbursement for assistance against Russia is unequivocally misguided. Period.

The suggested agreement, which reportedly reached Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s desk last week, demands half of the nation’s revenues from natural resources, ports, and infrastructure indefinitely as compensation for U.S. military support since the conflict began.

This would rapidly accumulate to countless billions more than what has been provided to Ukraine; it resembles a demand a conqueror might pose to a country that initiated and lost a war, aiming to impose a lesson.

In fact, when assessed as a share of GDP, it appears to be more severe than what the victorious allies imposed on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles after World War I.

Let’s be clear: Ukraine is the victim of this war and, not to forget, our ally.

The president’s offhand comments regarding Zelensky late Tuesday were wildly misplaced: “You’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it. You should have never started it.”

He didn’t initiate it, and he’s had no opportunity to conclude it except through capitulation to the brutal invader: No matter the negotiation strategies Trump might favor, distorting the truth in such a manner should be beneath him.

A source within the Trump administration informed The Post that the proposed arrangement aimed to “recoup hundreds of billions of dollars of American taxpayers’ money,” as if a bunch of Kyiv crooks were robbing American citizens.

However, that’s a fantasy propagated by populist commentators (some far too eager to act as Kremlin proxies).

Indeed, American-supplied arms have been essential to Ukraine’s defense against the Russian incursion.

Yet, assistance to Kyiv has been a fantastic deal for Uncle Sam, not an open-ended donation squandered by the struggling nation.

Of the approximately $175 billion Washington has allocated to the conflict, around $70 billion has been reinvested in our economy to produce new weaponry to replace older models sent to Kyiv — a boon for U.S. defense manufacturers (and American workers).

Much of the remaining funding comprises lend-lease agreements, not outright grants.

Furthermore, the West has derived significant advantages in other respects.

Ukraine’s actions weakened Moscow’s military capabilities, and the conflict is deteriorating Russia’s economy.

Additionally, Ukraine has paid a devastating price — an estimated 46,000 soldiers dead and another 390,000 wounded.

This figure excludes tens of thousands of civilian casualties and over 6 million refugees displaced.

Most crucially: Assisting Ukraine in defending itself against Vladimir Putin’s illegitimate, savage invasion was the morally right course of action.

To exploit the war-ravaged nation for every possible advantage, solely because we have the capacity to do so, would be abhorrent.

The president is renowned for his tough negotiating style; we can only hope this proposal is merely a starting point.

There exists the potential for an agreement that preserves Ukraine’s dignity while benefitting both parties — perhaps something akin to the $500 billion deal on rare earth minerals that was suggested recently — but this certainly is not it.

On this occasion, Trump is demanding far too much.