Megaterio Llamas wrote: ↑Tue Feb 25, 2025 12:45 pm
Zelensky is flying to Washington today to sign the minerals deal.
And the EU is offering its own deal.
https://www.politico.eu/article/critica ... ald-trump/
And Putin is exploring rare earth metal exploration deals with the US too.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-s ... ne-2036146
A few months ago, Senator Lindsey Graham (a hawk, and one of the strongest supporters of US aid), was pretty transparent about the rare earth materials prize. While the mask came off, its not exactly a secret that Ukraine was going to "pay" for aid with deals like this as well as international ag co's control of Ukrainian land. Its why with all the talk of "sovereignty" (by a Europe that lambasted the UK for asserting its own) and "democracy" (for a country that has cancelled its elections), there was always a background whiff of some old school colonialism. Which is meant descriptively, not judgmentally. Fact it, nothing is free. If you can't defend yourself, you will pay for your defense.
Ukraine's deputy prime minister is quotes as saying, "The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it's part of a bigger picture." I wonder what that bigger picture is exactly. But here's what I tentatively suspect:
* the terms of peace between Ukraine and Russia are already well on their way to being worked out,
* this minerals deal is part of that agreement,
* the US knows exactly what Zelenskyy will agree to, and they are negotiating with Russia as--not exactly as his proxy, but as a mediator who knows what Zelenskyy will settle at and with Zelenskyy's okay,
* Until the deal's done, Zelenskyy is being given license to say "nobody's including us!" even though he's well aware of how this is getting negotiated; he will continue to play the defiant leader even as he is now resigned to negotiated peace (I am not saying Zelenskyy was inauthentically defiant -- what he's done took a ton of courage and is quite admirable -- but I am saying that he's ready for it to be over),
* Trump and Putin have disarmed from one another -- no criticism of the other country's leaders as part of the normalization process -- but behind closed doors, each expresses lines -- and each guesses whether those lines are real,
* The entire EU might not be read in, but some leaders are,
* Part of what we've seen in the past month vis a vis the theater of the US negotiating unilaterally and questioning whether there are commonalities that we are fighting for is pressure to get Europe to increase its defense spending and capabilities. NATO leadership is completely on board with this outcome even if they are not read in on the negotiations -- and the unease of the future of the transatlantic alliance has created a new level of political will to spend more on defense.
* The other part, though, is real -- the United States (through the Trump Administration) is honestly concerned about Europe's direction.
