“I’ve asked Congress to investigate where this money has gone. The American people are owed that answer because it’s our money. It’s our taxpayer dollars,” Patel said.

Opinion polls show that Americans significantly overestimate the proportion of the US federal budget that is spent on foreign aid, believing it to be around 25 percent when in fact it was only around 1 percent in 2023, amounting to just 0.25% of GDP.

He also criticized the scale of US aid to Ukraine.

“The issue is not about the US sending a billion dollars, but rather that the amount sent to one country is one hundred times that billion.”

Patel then questioned President Volodymr Zelensky’s credibility, and referenced a missile incident in Poland.

“Zelensky went on the world stage and said ‘Russia fired a rocket into Poland,’ which would be an act of war. It turned out that Russia fired no such rocket,” Patel claimed.

Poland has scrambled jets amid Russian attacks on Ukraine several times over the past year, as missiles sent to western Ukraine have violated Polish airspace.

He concluded with further skeptical statements and additional calls to investigate Ukrainian funds.

“We just can’t have full faith and trust in giving a leader $100 billion and then having him say, ‘I’m not telling you where the money went.’” Patel concluded.

Numerous US government organizations have been keeping up with oversight and transparency measures of aid to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Aside from military aid, US funds have been vital in supporting numerous Ukrainian programs and initiatives.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) has provided Ukraine with $2.6 billion in humanitarian aid, $5 billion in development assistance, and more than $30 billion in direct budget support, helping to rebuild schools after Russian attacks, pay for bomb shelters, advanced medical equipment for hospitals and much more.

USAID’s efforts have also included supporting judicial reforms and anti-corruption initiatives, and promoting transparency and accountability in governance.

The Donald Trump administration announced that it would be terminating over 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts, cutting $60 billion in foreign assistance.

Patel previously served as a federal prosecutor, and he held various intelligence positions in Trump’s first administration. He has been considered a Trump loyalist, and his views align with the current administration’s escalating criticisms of Zelensky’s government, including Trump’s recent false claims that the US has sent $350 billion in assistance to Ukraine.

Patel also received $25,000 in 2024 from a film company run by pro-Kremlin filmmaker Igor Lopatonok, according to a report.

The payment came after Patel participated in a documentary about Trump that aired on TCN, the online network of right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson.

During an emergency summit in London on Sunday, following Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s disastrous trip to Washington, Starmer emphasized the necessity for the EU and other sponsors to step up and take a leading role in supporting Kiev. While acknowledging that some nations have little to contribute, he insisted that those willing should act with urgency.

“Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can’t mean that we sit back. Instead, those willing will intensify planning now with real urgency. The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others,” Starmer told the press.

French President Emmanuel Macron stated that European troops would only be deployed once the situation on the ground is safe for them. He proposed a temporary month-long “truce in the air, on the seas, and on energy infrastructure” – an idea that Moscow had previously denounced as a Western ploy to rearm and bolster Kiev.

“There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks,” Macron said in an interview with Le Figaro.

“The question is how can we use this time to try to get a truce accessible, with negotiations that will take several weeks, and then, when the peace is signed, a deployment.”

Moscow has repeatedly ruled out temporary ceasefires similar to the failed Minsk agreements, insisting on a permanent, legally binding deal that addresses the root causes of the conflict. The Minsk ceasefire, which was ostensibly intended to freeze the conflict between Kiev and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, was in fact only “an attempt to give Ukraine time” to build up its strength, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted in 2022.

The summit was attended by several European leaders, including Starmer, Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and others, along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Trudeau did not rule out potentially deploying troops to Ukraine, saying that Ottawa “has looked at the ways it can best help, and as I’ve said a few days ago, everything’s on the table.”

However, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that there was still no single specific plan for troop deployment and stressed that “the presence of Italian troops in Ukraine has never been on the agenda.”

Tusk noted that the leaders had failed to propose a systematic, common position to shape future security guarantees for Ukraine or “a concrete plan for negotiations” with Russia.

“We all get a sense at this moment that no one has a plan for it, and that sense of chaos, makeshift approach … sometimes sparks emotions like we have seen in that unseemly spectacle in Washington a few days ago, which we all would rather avoid,” Tusk said.

Moscow has strongly opposed the deployment of unauthorized foreign troops to Ukraine, warning that without a UN mandate, they would be considered legitimate targets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the idea of deploying foreign troops to Ukraine – pushed primarily by France and Britain – is meant to “further fuel the conflict and stop any attempts to cool it down.” The Russian Foreign Ministry also accused the EU and UK of embarking “on a path of militarism.”

Macron’s statement comes after European leaders met in London to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, and restoring dialogue between the Ukrainian and U.S. governments following the heated argument between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last week.

Ground and maritime operations, as well as energy infrastructure, would be part of a potential truce plan, Macron told Le Figaro, but would not cover the front lines as it would be too difficult to monitor, he said in an interview with Le Figaro.

Peacekeeping forces will be deployed on the ground only at the second stage of the plan’s implementation, according to Macron.

“There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks,” he added.

But an unnamed British official denied that such a truce had been agreed upon in London, adding there was not yet agreement on the timing of any potential ceasefire.

Macron stated that the European Union must also allocate an additional 200 billion euros ($208 billion) to strengthen its defense capabilities in light of a possible U.S. rollback and further Russian threats.

EU countries have to set a target for defense investment of 3%-3.5% of GDP, the French president said. He added defense funds are expected to come through “innovative financing,” including joint loans and other EU mechanisms.

These issues will be on the agenda of the emergency European summit on March 6. According to Macron, the EU is also seeking to provide Ukraine with an emergency military aid package worth 20 billion euros ($21 billion) at the meeting in Brussels.

While most European leaders publicly voiced support for Zelensky after his spat with Trump, Starmer called both the Ukrainian and U.S. leaders in an attempt to bridge the rift. The prime minister reportedly aims to tell Zelensky that fixing relations with Trump would be necessary to ensure lasting peace.

The British prime minister and Macron, who visited Washington earlier the previous week, are seeking to mend the ties between Kyiv and the U.S. and present a united front on Ukraine and Russia.

European leaders had previously been sidelined from talks between the U.S. and Russia — concerned that neither the EU nor Kyiv will have a role in negotiating a ceasefire in Ukraine.