Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) said on Sunday that forcing Ukraine to agree to a resource deal with the U.S., in exchange for the possibility of support against Russia, is akin to “victim extortion.”
The moderate Republican said Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the invasion of Ukraine three years ago, should be the one forced to pay.
“Putin, and Putin alone, should bear the economic costs of Putin’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Fitzpatrick said in a post on X.
“To force Ukraine to pay these costs is the epitome of victim-blaming and victim extortion.”
The statement comes as U.S. officials have been pushing a proposal wherein the U.S. would get half of any revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources, as well as earnings from ports and other infrastructure, according to The New York Times. According to a draft of the deal, the U.S. would collect until a special fund reaches $500 billion.
In exchange, the U.S. would provide long-term support for Ukraine’s reconstruction. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pushing for security guarantees as well, and has resisted the terms being pushed by President Trump.
Still, the Times reported Saturday that Ukraine was seriously considering a revised version of the deal.
The development comes after a week of escalating tensions between Zelensky and Trump, who has come under fire for appearing to side with Putin over Zelensky. Trump has claimed the Ukrainian leader started the war and called Zelensky a “dictator without elections.” Zelensky said Trump was living in a “web of disinformation.”
Some U.S. officials have cautioned Zelensky against provoking Trump. National security adviser Mike Waltz said Thursday that Zelensky needs to “tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal.”
Fitzpatrick — one of three House Republicans elected in districts that Vice President Harris won in the 2024 election — said earlier this week that Zelensky must not be forced to accept a deal that is struck by another country and that falls short of his demands.
“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy need not, and must not, have any deal forced upon him by any outside nation that does not guarantee the security and the sovereignty of the Ukrainian people,” Fitzpatrick wrote in a statement on social platform X.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) on Sunday compared the natural resources deal to something that might be offered by the mafia.
“It just looks like an episode of ‘The Sopranos,’ right. ‘Give us your minerals or we’re not gonna help you fight a bloody butcher,'” he said. “I mean, is this really what we want the greatest country in history to be known for — for some mafia thing?”
