Posted on 02/27/2025 6:18:25 AM PST by delta7
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is slated to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White on Friday to finalize the widely publicized mineral deal. The initial demand for $500 billion in minerals was perhaps a reminder to Ukraine of how much the US has spent on their war. The current draft would establish a jointly managed Reconstruction Investment Fund.
It is estimated that Ukraine holds 5% of world’s critical raw materials. Ukrainian officials believe they have 19 million tonnes of graphite reserves and significant deposits of titanium, rare earth metals, and lithium. The current plan would require harvesting up to HALF of Ukraine’s minerals and rare earth materials.
The White House believes that this new deal could be worth $1 trillion. Donald Trump has stated that American taxpayers must “get their money back” after Biden sent an untold fortune to fund the proxy war. Yet, there has been much bickering between Zelensky and Trump on whether all or part of that money was a grant or a loan. Either way, the Russia-US meeting last week shook up negotiations. Ukraine expressed anger and turned to European leaders who immediately gathered to see how they could push forth this war without America. Zelensky’s willingness to sign a deal tells us the outcome of those meetings. Even French President Emmanuel Macron is welcoming a deal between the US and Ukraine.
“The provisions of the deal are much better for Ukraine now,” a source in Ukraine’s government told the BBC. The specifics have not been outlined. The caveat for Ukraine is a security guarantee, which the US has not offered at the time of this writing. “I want to find a Nato path or something similar,” Zelensky told the BBC. “If we don’t get security guarantees, we won’t have a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing.”
NATO membership is off the table. Donald Trump’s administration has not taken a side in this foreign war and the next move is crucial. Russia has come out to offer a counter-mineral deal to America. Russia “undoubtedly have [sic], I want to emphasize, significantly more resources of this kind than Ukraine,” Putin said. “As for the new territories, it’s the same. We are ready to attract foreign partners to the so-called new, to our historical territories, which have returned to the Russian Federation,” he added.
The world will be watching this Friday as this deal could change the trajectory of America’s position in the war.
Trump is really a genius at business.
I have read here that all of the minerals are on the lands Russia took.
I thought it was probably exaggerated.
I will go check out the map.
I don’t have a dog in the fight.
I would like to see people stop dying and as much as possible, both sides walk away somewhat satisfied.
Would have never happened under Trump because he would have seen the legitimate issues on both sides.
But the past is the past.
What is the source for these alleged mineral deposits? Questionable old Soviet surveys? How many are actually commercially viable?
See my posts here:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4299716/posts?page=7#7
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4299716/posts?page=27#27
Gee, so many postings of Armstrong Economics. If Humblegunner was still around, he’d be calling you out for blog pimping. I’m not usually one to complain, but there are better sources for all this, much better written, too. This guy just can’t seem to write worth a darn.
Interesting topic. I do remember the US state in their 20 year war in Iraq they would pay for it from Iraqi oil sales….it never happened.
Maybe, but he writes many articles that MSM will not report.
IBTG/MB!!
Post them.
The whole “rare earth” and “minerals” thing, as presented, just doesn’t make sense.
The USA and North America have plenty of all these minerals. The real problem is 1) the average time to permit a new mine is 12 years - if at all and 2) we allowed China to take over the advanced processing of these minerals, due to environmental concerns, NIMBY, desire to buy cheap Chinese stuff. China now is most advanced in metallurgy and they also have the downstream products using these minerals.
So Ukraine has these minerals in the ground. So do we. That means nothing. The mines don’t exist, the processing plants don’t exist, the technology and applied science don’t exist, and the end use mass-manufacturing doesn’t exist.
As I said - doesn’t make sense.
LOL .... hope that’s how it all played out.
Wondering what we’re giving the little beeotch, in this deal.
IBTG/MB!
I’ve read conflicting reports about our actually having the rare earth minerals.
Our having Uke’s REMs will keep ChyNah from having them.
I thought it was Afghanistan that held a fabled trillion dollars’ worth of rare earth minerals ... but it turned out to be a fable. Or maybe they are some there, but Biden couldn’t be bothered?
Good find, Delta 7. Thank you.
Why don’t we do a deal with BOTH countries. Good for them and good for us. Neither likely to start up anything if lots of money is flowing to them and US contractors are plentiful in both countries.
It doesn’t make sense to me, either. Trump himself recently remarked “who knows what they’re worth?” and “maybe they’re not worth anything.”
As best I understand it, and I’m certainly no expert, these “rare earth minerals” are sprinkled all over the planet, but only in some locations can they be profitably extracted. From what I have read, only China, Russia and the USA have the necessary technology needed to process these minerals.
Back to it making no sense. It struck me as some sort of game being played, more kabuki theater. I mused about it here:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4299716/posts?page=47#47
Since then, it’s come out that other assets like gas and oil and the operation of ports has been added to the minerals in the deal. There are rumors that the mineral rights have already been bought up by Blackrock and similar outfits, rumors that Zelensky already promised them to Starmer in that goofy 100 year deal. It’s all just weird.
Maybe Trump hopes to save Ukraine’s remaining coastline with the ports portion of the deal? We built a port for them after they lost Crimea and ran NATO exercises out of it. Hey Vlad, those are our ports now, so hands off. I have no idea.
Maybe it will eventually make sense. Or not. Right now, I just can’t quite figure it out.
(For more context, see my earlier posts on this thread.)
Since then, it’s come out that other assets like gas and oil and the operation of ports has been added to the minerals in the deal.
It takes considerable skill to negotiate.
I agree with your previous thread - it’s simply not a “straight up” deal for minerals. The value, time frame and even these supposed minerals real existence in worthwhile amounts are all too abstract.
Trump is doing this to keep Ukraine and Russia “on the hook” for unspecified use in the future. Some said its to keep China out, which is possible. In sum, It’s a long-dated, out-of-the-money call option or “right of first refusal.” Ukraine has nothing else on which to write a call-option, so might as well be “minerals.”
It also fits Trump’s PR narrative to the world, and especially allies - you will PAY the costs of expensive US defense costs and alliances with us. Something bigger is coming on that score as well.
This is my best guess.
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