The art of the Ukraine deal
Remember that minerals deal with Ukraine? Well, it’s been signed:
Ukrainian Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko flew to Washington, D.C., Wednesday to help finalize the deal.
“On behalf of the Government of Ukraine, I signed the Agreement on the Establishment of a United States–Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund. Together with the United States, we are creating the Fund that will attract global investment into our country,” she wrote on X.
Upon taking office, President Donald Trump said he wanted Ukraine’s rare earth materials as a condition for continued U.S. support in the war. He described it as reimbursement for the billions of dollars of U.S. military assistance given to Ukraine.
How does CNN treat it? Like this: “Ukraine minerals deal is largely symbolic – but that’s enough for Donald Trump.” In other words, nothing much to see here – oh, and any credit belongs to Biden:
Ukraine’s minerals agreement with the United States stems from months of fraught haggling, and originates in a Ukrainian idea first offered during the amicable climes of the Biden administration. It has since become a persistent thorn in the side of Kyiv and Washington’s febrile relationship. President Volodymyr Zelensky had little choice but to sign something, or risk another seismic rupture in his relationship with President Donald Trump.
Yet the document CNN has seen sets the stage for a longer-term relationship between the US and Ukraine. It does not give an ironclad guarantee of American profits in the next years of the Trump administration.
Blahbity blah blah blah.
Russia is hardly pleased:
“Trump has finally pressured the Kyiv regime to pay for US aid with mineral resources,” Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram.
“Now, the country that is about to disappear will have to use its national wealth to pay for military supplies.”
And the Trump administration is reported to be about to do this:
The Trump administration has told Congress that it intends to give the go-ahead for roughly $50 million of defense-related products to be exported to Ukraine through American industry sales direct to Kyiv, according to a new report.
I consider these developments tentatively positive steps, considering the depth and complexity of the problems in the area.
Annnnnnd: The USSR, oops! The Russians must now consider the idea that their next missile barrage might come close to, or strike, some part of Ukraine that the US has some degree of ownership interest in. That could greatly increase the cost of poker…
” the amicable climes of the Biden administration”, yes, if amicable means throwing money away after Dopey Joe has taken his cut for the Biden crime family.
Jesus, how much clearer signal can you send?
Trump kind of trapped himself with his Ukraine talk before the election, and now he’s feeling his way to a solution of some sort, or trying to. I’m encouraged that he does seem to be aware of the risks involved at all levels.
One thing that nobody can be sure about is just how close to exhaustion and ‘breaking’ both sides are, and which side is closer. On paper Russia has the edge in terms of resources and population, but in practice it’s not that simple.